ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1228, 28 April 1864, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Mr. Newdegate asked Lord Palmerston in his place if, supposing the Germans to enter Jutland, Her Majesty's Government would adopt a more decisive line of action. Lord Palmerston characterized that entrance as "an aggravation of the violent outrage " already Committed, but declined to reply.

Mr. Hennessy asked the Government a vary embarrassing question about the "missing dispatch" to St. Petersburg. He affirmed that Lord Russell had sent to St. Petersburg a dispatch embodying his declaration at Blairgowrie that Russia had forfeited her right to Poland under the Treaty of Vienna, and that England would henceforth regard the Russo-Polish part of the Treaty of Vienna as non-existent, that Lord Napier had received this dispatch, and that he had been " advised " both by Prince Gortschakoff and Count llechberg not to present it, and that after the receipt of that advice it had been recalled by telegraph from home. That was substantially the charge which Lord Palmerston " dodged." He said it would be as reasonable to expect the Government to produce a dispatch before it had been approved by the Cabinet as before it had been presented—that cases of sent but withdrawn despatches were by no means unfrequent,—and that, in spite of the eagerness of the Poles for such a declaration by England, he thought it would be most impolitic to tear up the only document by which England reserved any international right to interfere with the treatment of the Poles. Mr. W. E. Forster afterwards attempted, but failed, to draw out some further admission. Of course, what the country wants to lufow is not whether or not the Government changed their mind at the last moment, but whether such a conversion was effected by the kind anxiety of Prince Gortschakoff and Count von Bisniark for English interests.

The Pays calls England the Pontius Pilate of Politics, because our only vocation is now to wash our hands of others' guilt while acquiescing in its results. There is something in the taunt. Pontius Pilate was well-meaning, but weak, and had a dreadful fear of being " Caesar's " foe ; and that is very much the state of mind of our own Government.

The Liberals have lost the seat for Brighton in the most imbecile way. They actually allowed four candidates to star!, not one of whom had any particular business there—Mr. Fawcett, a man who, being respectable, could never be popular in Brighton; Mr. Julian Goldsinid, whose chief recommendation was his property within the borough; Mr. Dumas, who had no recommendation at all; and a ,Mr. Harper, whose claim was that lie thought all Catholics must be damned. Of course, under those circumstances the Tories saw their chance, put forward a popular citizen, who openly defied and ridiculed all non-electors, and carried the seat in the face of a majority of Liberal votes. The numbers were: —H. Moore, 1,663; H. Fawcett, 1,468; J. Goldsmid, 775; F. K. Dumas, 246; E. Harper, 82. The proceedings throughout the election were disgraceful, the roughs pelting the candidates with rotten eggs, sea-weed, flints, and bits of rock, and receiving the Mayor's announcement that Mr. Dumas had been too severely treated to attend with " loud "beers." Cannot the decent leaders of the party pay these ruffians to keep order for one day ? Since the election there has been a regular cross fire of letters and explanations, most of them very ill-tempered. Everybody asserts that everybody else pledged himself to resign on certain conditions, which the offender urges were not complied with, and Mr. Goldsmid whose claim is property, and Mr. Dumas, who has no claim at all, are specially angry with Mr. Fawcett, who came in at the head of the Liberal candidates. It is utterly impossible from the published accounts to determine which gentleman was in the wrong, but the returns show that Mr. Dumas had no support, and Mr. Goldsmid very little, and both should have thrown their remaining votes at noon on Mr. Fawcett.

Mr. Gladstone has introduced a most important bill. It is technical in form, professing only to do away with certain restrictions, but its real objects are twofold. It enables the Chancellor of the Exchequer to turn the Post-office Savings' Banks into benevolent societies, where the poor, by paying pennies a week for long periods, may purchase deferred annuities guaranteed by the State, and to sell policies of life insurance under the value of £100. We have discussed the first proposition, which is really one of the greatest ever brought forward by an English statesman, in another column ; but the second must wait for Mr. Gladstone's exposition. Its merits depend upon the machinery he intends to employ, on the precautions he takes against any increase of the temptations to murder, and on one or two points of detail, which must be officially stated before they can be discussed. The insurance offices are very angry with the second proposal, but the hostility of great corporations is not prima facie an. argument against reform. The Army Estimates appeared, and show a reduction' of some £200,o6(), .produced by knocking about 1,500 men from different corps. This is an unimportant reduction, aiicl the military force of the country still costs £14,884,186, exclusive of the moijey raised in India. For Mi'is amount, however, with its Indian this country enjoys the control of a yery respectable force, of which about one-third is ayailable for uon-defensive purposes. The numbers are:—Regulars, 219,000; Militia, 114,000; Volunteers, 160,000; Yeomanry, 14,000. Total, 507,000, Including the sailors aqd marines, Great Britain pays nearly «J00 5 0.Q0 regular fighting men, and including the regulars of the Indian and other local services, more than half a million.

The Navy Estimates have been published, and show a decrease of £303, 422 on last year, namely, £10,432,610 against £10,736,032 for 1863. The chief decrease is on Vote 10 for naval stores, machinery, and ships built by contract, which is £365,088, or more than the total decrease. There is also a decrease of £47,304 on the wages of seamen and marines, and of £112,867 on the clothing and food of the same, caused by a reduction of the regular force by 500 seamen and officers, 2,000 boys, and of the Coast Guard service by 1,500 men and boys included. How far this reduction of our naval strength is consistent with that high efficiency which the critical situation of affairs demands we must wait to determine till we hear Lord Clarence Paget's statement.

Lord Palmerston explained yesterday week that England, "in conjunction with France, Russia, and Sweden," and " with the concurrence," he believed, of Austria, had proposed an armistice on the basis of the evacuation of Schleswig, except the Island of Alsen, by the Danes ; and Mr. Layard, on a subsequent night, explained that the proposed armistice had failed, whether because Denmark would not hear of it, or because Prussia would not hear of it, we do not know—probably both. We suppose the object of the armistice would be to await the action of the Rigsraad in regard to the November Constitution ; but as the Prussians have determined that the concessions they will extort must depend on the amount of their " sacrifices in the war," they cannot afford to stop without greater sacrifices. It would be disagreeable to have to ask for Schleswig in consideration of the death of a few hundred soldiers. After a few regiments have thus been voluntarily offered up, their modesty will, perhaps, admit of the demand.

Sir George Grey brought in his Bill to amend the laws relating to penal servitude, chiefly in the direction advised by the Royal Commission. The new powers proposed to be taken by the Government are ample for the purposes the reformers have in view; but it is obvious enough that Sir George Grey is not yet prepared to use them in any coherent and systematic way. The Government do not propose to extend the emigration to Western Australia, on the very simple ground that they are afraid of exasperating the Eastern Australian colonies, but they " protest " against the protest of those colonies —a great and effective step. They will also prohibit the convicts from leaving Western Australia till after the full expiration of their sentence. They will increase the minimum time for penal servitude from three to five years, instead of seven as proposed by the Commissioners, and will " not at present" make any alterations in the conditions under which a remission of sentence is granted; but Sir George Grey confessed he should like to make the remission of sentence absolute, if public opinion would only allow him. But if a license be revoked for a new crime, the Government proposes (very justly) to make the holder work out first the whole remainder of his previous sentence that was not passed in prison, and then work out any new sentence which his fresh crime may have brought down upon him.

Mr. Adderley criticised the measure sharply from his own favourite point of view—that of shorter, sharper, purely deterrent sentences, with no remissions or reformatory machinery of any kind. We are not prepared to abandon the hope that this measure may be made the means for introducing the Irish system into our English prisons, or we should almost agree with Mr. Adderley rather than with the present half-and-half policy of Sir George Grey. Mr. Adderley undiluted is better than Sir Walter Crofton and water; and the Home Secretary's present views are a faint and fluctuating compromise between the two. He holds out no hope of the intermediate prisons, the only good preparations for tickets of leave; we cannot see that he even intends t6 make the licence ft privilege earned by special

industry, hut - only, as before, the mere result of respectable conduct and the average tale of work; and, worst of all, he declines to take any steps for a secure registration and supervision of the ticket-ofr-leave men after their discharge. Without those three great conditions of success, the reformatory element in the discipline must be insignificant, and it would be better to go in for the Chief Justice's and Mr. Adderlcy's deterrent system pure and simple.

Mr. Gladstone carried the second reading of the Bill authorizing the manufacture without excise duty of malt for cattle without a division. The most serious objection raised was that of Mr. Bass, who maintained that the use of linseed cake in the malt thus manufactured would probably not prevent the nse of the same malt for beer, as the linseed could be separated at any stage of the proceedings, which, if true, would probably be fatal, as good beer is not what a large number of the poor men ever look for, but only intoxicating fluid. The officers of the Inland Revenue have, however, assured Mr. Gladstone that the linseed cannot even be so far separated as to make endurable beer. But then, perhaps, the officers of the Inland Revenue scarcely know how much many laborers can endure in the way of taste, if the beer will only stupify and excite. The Emperor of Austria prorogued the Reichsrath on the 15th of February, in a speech of which the following is the only note-worthy paragraph:—" In conformity with the vote of the Federal Diet, I have, as a German prince, taken part in the Federal execution, and, in concert with th& King of Prussia, the Duchy of Schleswig has been occupied as a pledge." This is understood by very sanguine people to imply a promise that when the pledge is redeemed Schleswig shall be restored, but then Austrian officials admit that Denmark must pay the expenses of the war, and that Schleswig must be kept till she does, and Trussia has already confiscated the money she owed to Denmark on account of the Sound dues.

Of the Chancellor's livings ordered last session to be sold, 37 have been sold, 53 are under negociation, and 85 have been inquired about. The purchasemoney of the 37 livings has been £65,300, the majority of the prices offered being very high indeed. In fact, Lord Westbury, with his vulpine keenness of scent for human weaknesses, has traded on the strongest foible of the squires, who give twenty or thirty years' purchase for advowsons which secure them local power. It is everything to the owner of Marketton to be able to keep all the curates about hint hoping for a presentation to " that great opportunity of usefulness."

The Suez Canal Company are still endeavoring to settle their differences with the Viceroy of Egypt. It seems that the Pasiia requested them to diminish the number of forced labourers to 6000, to pay them Is Sd a day, to sell him the fresh-water canal, and to surrender the mile of land upon each bank. This offer the company resist, and they induced Prince Napoleon at a dinner given by them to pronounce a speech urging them to proceed. The Prince declared that England was governed by three very old men, and that she had abandoned two of the noblest of causes rather than fight, and that she certainly would not light France to resist the Suez Canal. As for the rights of the Porte, they were merely an excuse for British diplomacy.

All military resistance to the French in Mexico appears to have ceased, the State of Guanaxuato having submitted, and it is reported that the voting for the Emperor Maximilian is going on very favorably. Meanwhile the Church party, who brought in the French, are, as might have been expected, quarrelling with their allies. The Regency recently guaranteed the purchasers of Church lands, but the Archbishop informed the Supreme Court that he was preparing a decree, and the judges, being Ultramontanes, refused to allow of transfers till the decree had appeared. The General pointed out the principles upon which it had been resolved to proceed, but the Archbishop and Bishops actually fulminated a decree of excommunication against all concerned in secularizing the property of the Church. The judges declared they should act in accordance with this sentence, and the Regency consequently removed the whole of them. Imagine an Archbishop who thinks to frighten Frenchmen out of maintaining the rights of the State by a curse in Latin occupying 27 sheets of parchment!

A case of considerable importance to shareholders and directors of railway companies was tried last week in the Queen's Bench. Mr. Parsons, chairman of the Hammersmith Railway Company, and another director, purchased the Talbot estate, in the direct course of the projected line, and then sent in, through other parties, a claim for an amount in compensation five times the highest valuation. Mr. Surgey, a shareholder, to whose knowledge this had come, stated the facts to his fellow victims, and Mr. Parsons was requested to resign. He then brought the present action for damages against Mr. Surgey, the principal points urged being that the company was virtually merged in a contractor who had taken nearly all the shares, and that its interests were, therefore, but slightly affected; that the claim was sent in without his knowledge, and that Mr. Surgey's statement to the shareholders had been made out of personal malice against him rather than a desire to benefit them. The Chief Justice made some very strong remarks on the plaintiff's conduct, but the jury appear to have considered Mr. Surgey's animus sufficiently proved to justify a verdict of £25 damages.

The Manchester Examiner gives a curious bit of London gossip. The two sons of Baron Lionel Rothschild, though proposed by Earl Russell and Lord Granville, were within the month both blackballed at Brookes's.

Extraordinary Statement. —A Cruise after the Alabama.—lt was currently reported on Liverpool 'Change, on Wednesday afternoon, that in a few days one of the fastest screw steamers afloat would leave a British port on a cruize after the Alabama. This new steamer has been purchased, and is being fitted out at the sole expense of two first-class English houses—one in London and the other in Liverpool—both of whom have suffered heavily in consequence of the depredations of the famous Confederate cruiser. The new vessel, it is expected, will steam three or four knots faster than the Alabama ever could do, besides being much stronger, and when armed, carrying guns of such a tfalibre and construction that the chances of the Alabama being able to cope with her will be hopeless. She will be commanded by a man who has already gained much notoriety in connection with ocean navigation, and whom Captain Semmes will find a foe •' worthy of his steel." The mission of this new steamer, whilst it will be chiefly to hunt and catch the Alabama, will also be directed against the other Confederate cruisers, Georgia, Florida, Rappahannock (should the latter get to sea), and Tuscaloosa. Already two barques have left England with coals for the " new comer," which will be discharged at one or two ports which this vessel will make her rendezvous. The steamer of course will act in conjunction with the Federal cruisers now on the look-out for the Alabama. We may here repeat that this action on the part of the British merchants is prompted by heavy combined and personal losses in the destruction of neutral goods in American bottoms, and also from the fact that hitherto all the efforts of the Federal navy to capture the Alabama have been fruitless. The Manchester Examiner says:—"Can this be another Confederate dodge? "

Extraordinary Scene After a Marriage.— On the marriage of Mr. Thomas S. Dawson, of Tupgill Lodge, Middleham, the second son of Mr. Dawson, the celebrated trainer for Lord Glasgow, to Miss Elizabeth Flintoft I'Anson, of Spring Cottage, Norton, Malton, being celebrated in the parish church of St. Nicholas, Norton, the occasion was made one of the most extreme rejoicing. The bride was attended by four bridesmaids, and the bridal party included the elite of the neighborhood. The town was decked in banners from end to end, merry peals were rung on the bells of the Malton churches, and the splpndid band of the 2nd Battalion of the North Riding Volunteers did honor to the occasion. The church during the ceremony was crammed to repletion, and at a moderate estimate fully 3,000 persons assembled in the church and outside it. No sooner had the carriages conveying the bridal party been driven off, than the people in the street commenced a snow-balling attack upon those in the churchyard, the gates being made a grand focus for the missiles. This strange proceeding on the part of probably 1,500 to 2.000 people entirely put a stop'tothe egress of those in the churchyard, whose numbers were being constantly increased by the ladies who were leaving the church. At length probably 500 gentlemen in the churchyard set about returning the fire of the people in the street, and then commenced a quarter of an hour's fight probably never equalled. The occupants of the churchyard having the advantage in position, and having the ladies to defend, eventually gained the day, and fairly conquered the attacking party, though fully three times superior in number. The snowballing mania had, however, set in, and became the object of several pitched battles in the afternoon, when the annual sports at Crucalty' Fair were being held. Upon the return of the bridal party, nearly 100 guests partook of breakfast, and last evening nearly 150 guests assembled at the assembly-rooms and theatre of the Malton Literary Institution, where the father of the bride gave a grand ball and banquet in honor of the happy event. Mingled with the decorations were the well-known colors of many of the English turf celebrities.

Death op a Miser.—A man named William Cox, aged 52 years, who occupied a room at the model lodging house, Columbia-square, was found dead at that place. From the appearance of the body when discovered, and that of the room, it was evident that the deceased was a wretched miser. The deceased lay dead on the floor, his head being in the grate. The clothes on his body were not worth a shilling, and the stockings were sewn on his feet, and had literally grown into the flesh. In the room, deeds, leases, policies of insurance, money, watches, and other property to the value of between £6000 and £7000, were found lying about and concealed. Amongst other articles, seventeen coats, the same number of waistcoats, and seventeen pairs of boots, all nearly new, were found in the place. Two hundredweight of coals, which it was ascertained were purchased by him six months ago, were found very nearly untouched. It was his habit during the severe weather to sit shivering in his room, and no one could induce hitn to allow a fire to be made. A large quantity of food was also found, and it is inferred from the deplorable state of emaciation to which his body is reduced that he must have denied himself the use of the food. Two documents—one relating to £40,000, and the other to £600, invested in the Bank of England—were discovered among his papers. £25 in gold was found stowed away in rags, bags, and purses. It is not known whether the deceased had any relatives living.

Mazzixi Ordered ron Trial.—Paris, Thursday Evening.—lt will probably surprise you, gays a correspondent, to learn that Mazzini is ordered for trial (irenvot/e) before a French assize court. Such, however, is the statement of a French journal. An indictment has been framed against Mazzini as an accomplice of the four Italians, Greco, Imperatori, Trabucco, and Saglio, in si plot against the Emperor's life. French courts are in the habit of trying people in their absence and pronouncing awful sentences against them, even extending to death. But sucli sentences are mere mockery, for whenever the accused party chooses to appear lie is entitled to a new (rial. It, is, however, a very curious fact that the French Government should persist in attributing to Mazzini a design to take the Kmperor's life by the hands of hired assassins. Hitherto the general belief has been that whatever exception may be taken to Mazzini's ideas, he is ;i sincere nmn, and that his denial of any participation ill the Paris plot was worthy of all credence.

Gallant Bkjiaviolu of a Danish — Copenhagen, Feb. 8 (8.5 m) p.m.)—A report of the War Minister has been published to-day, which says:—"'The Danish outposts are now from one and a half to three miles outside Alssund (?) No attack has taken place. During the retreat after the engagement near Oversee, the Ist Copenhagen Regiment of infant ry made a splendid and heroic bayonet charge upon a battery of 16 Prussian guns. The regiment was nearly destroyed, but the army was thereby saved. The Faedralandet publishes a telegram from Stockholm, stating that extreme consternation and grief prevailed in that city upon the receipt of the news from Denmark. Large numbers of people collected in the streets.

The Adventures of an Italian Brigand.— Pilone, the Calabrese bandit, now in prison at Rome, is a tall well-made man, of great coolness; audacity, and courage. At the time when thousands of scudi were offered for him dead or alive, he went into Naples, leaving his band at the foot of Vesuvius, and took a box at the San Carlo, and between the acts he got into conversation with the captain of the guard, who informed him that he was under orders next morning to command the corps which was to go ill search of Pilone. On leaving the theatre, when the guard was dismissed, Pilone invited the officer to join him at a cafe on the road to Vesuvius. After a short time passed together, Pilone took his leave, and exchanged cards with the captain, whose astonishment may be imagined when he saw, written in large letters, the name of the dreaded baudit. His adventure with the director of the bank, Signor Avitable, made a great sensation at the time. This important functionary was accustomed to drive daily by the seaside. In broad daylight, one afternoon, while crowds were in the streets, Pilone entered the town with one of his most trustworthy followers. Suddenly the lieutenant called to the coachman to stop, and jumped on the box. In a moment Pilone let down the steps and was seated by M. Avitable. The coachman, under the threat of having his brains blown out, drove on towards Vesuvius. In vain the poor director endeavoured to let down the windows to call for assistance; for he was held tight in Pilone's iron grasp. Arrived at the mountain, they were met by a detachment of the band, the director placed on a horse, and in the face of the whole population carried off to the mountains. A large ransom was demanded, one half of which being paid, Avitabile was permitted to return to his home ; but here comes the pith of the story: —Pilone, seeing a statement in the papers that he had received the full amount of the ransom, which had been repaid by the Government, sent a statement of the exact sum he had received to the papers, and the director stood charged with having pocketed the difference. Another anecdote before we leave this interesting hero of the highway:—On one occasion the Government made arrangements which it was thought could not fail to seize Pilone, at any time when he was known to visit Pompeii daily to meet a young lady to whom he was deeply attached. As he was leaving the trysting-place, suddenly a corps of gendarmes appeared, but before they could fire, Pilone, armed witli a rifle and a brace of revolvers, shot two of them, leaped over a low wall, and was off like a deer; but alas, he ran into another detachment which had been sent round to meet him. There he was greeted with a volley which missed him, for he seemed to bear a charmed life; here, two more of his enemies fell, and, leaping over every obstacle, he made for the sea, cutting away at his dress as he proceeded, so that when he arrived at the shore he was in a fit state for a bath. In he jumped, and, being a strong swimmer, he dived under the waves when the volleys of musketry rang around him. Only one shot hit him in the ankle, but was not sufficient to impede his progress. After a little time he was picked up by a fishing boat, and at nightfall was again at the head of his band. —Roman correspondent of the Morning Post.