BNGLISM MAIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 322, 23 November 1864, Page 6

BNGLISM MAIL.

"Tkw *Priaca Alfred* arriTod in the harbour hrinjrin;: tip English mail. TBv this tnail fravp news to the 3rd of October. The news, miijlit have been expected. from "the that at the time of the depar~tureof't hc mail, it. was tlie middle of tho loni* xacatron and Parliamentary recess. Wo learn, liotvpver, the follrnrin? interesting particulars. The Prince and Princess of Wales had departed for Copenhagen on a visit to the Ivinsr of Denmark. Her Majesty remained at Balmoral. That Sir Charles Loeoclt hnd been desrntehrd to Berlin tonttend the Crown Princess of Prussia in her confinement, and that tho interminable "Felverton case had entered upon a new phase. Mrs. Forbes Yelverton. it is said, being about to commence a suit for judicial separation.

The political news is mnst interesting. thousrh | its importance is somewhat diminished bv the j departure of the occasion which smrsestcd (lie j new schemes of European powers, ft appears | that Ris=sia had contemplated tho interference of Encrland in the Polish affair. Tn such an event tho Thissinn Government hnd laid out. so says tho Times, the following plan :—The Ad- ' mirals on the American and Californian stations were to proceed to an appointed place of rendezvous, and a general attach was to be made at a !?iven time upon the Australian colonies. Melbourne. Tfobart Town, Adelaide. Sydney, and New Zealand were to be attached in turn. Iter resources from New York would have mustered lofi sruns; from Japan and California 4-3 guns, ■with 2071 seamen and 127 officers. The runs were to he OS-pounders. The Polish affair is over, but the query is no less pertinent. Tn such a conjuncture of evils where would be the Pnclish fleet ? The Puke of Lansdown is made a !Knii'ht of the Garter. T.orel Palmerston. in hi* 81st year, is lecturinc throughout tho Fnclish towns in vigorous health and buovant spirits. One item of news will be rrceived with verv sroneral repret. Captain Ppeke. the African ■explorer and discoverer of the sources of the is dead, having accidentally shot himself "while crossing a Trail, in Wiltshire, where he was on a visit.

TTneler tltc head. Miscellaneous, ire mnv t>»il ■t-liat the Fmperor of Abyssinia keeps the British Consul in irons for not roturniner a favourable replv to the demand made by (lint potentate for her Maiosty's hand in mnrriasre. Haberdasherv Hall. fireesham-street. is entirely destroyed bv fire, the estimated Joss being'£loo.ooo. A fright fill colliery explosion had occurred in North Shields. .A shook of an earthquake bad fell in Cheshire. Forty-seven wrecks had born reported on the const a week before the departure of the mail. General Maemurdo had retired from the Inspectorship of Volunteers. The Shakespeare Committee, alas ! are minus £300.

The English newspapers disclose several brutal and inhuman murders. Max Muller. accused of the murder of Mr. Priggs.in a railway carriage near TTnekney. London, was arrested in York on the 24-th .August. His defence been taken up by the German Society, who believe liim innocent. The Fnglish Poor Taw Expenditure for the year ending March 25th last, was £0,527,000, an increase on the previous year of £450,000. The convict question ha = entered upon a somewhat novel phase. l'ussia might oede s. portion of the Siberian territories •where they might be employed, or Pussia might take charge of them under a convention, the •terms to be agreed upon. Surely iost and earnest approximate too closely here. 'The trade with China is said to be now 104. millions. Hie Queen has conferred the Victoria Cross on .Assistant-Surgeons Manlcv and Temple, T.ieut. Piekard. Fnsirn Down, and Drummer St"<rpole. for braverv in New Zealand. We are glad also to T'otioe that our worthv friend, we had almost said fellow-colonist. H. de Purgh Adams. Emilias been appointed Principal Purveyor to the Forces in aeknowlcdcement of his services in New .Zealand. Tlie 'Poxburgh Castle ' and the * Licht Brigade have sailed with reinforcements for New Zealand.

The most notable of the items of foreign news is that Prussia will make no concessions. Both the Emperor of the French nnd Lonl "Russell are very wrath at such obstinacy. The Emperor of Eussia is at Berlin, the JTing of Prussia is at Munich, and we rend that the ex Grand Puke of Tuscany lias been re-elected Lord Mavor of Srbickenwerth. in Bohemia. Prom Ireland we learn that the Government ■were about to appoint a Commission to enquire into the late riots at Belfast. Kine persons have died in consequence of injuries received oil that occasion. 176 persons were wounded. The sums claimed for compensation amount to £10,000.

From America we have advices to the 20th of September. Grant, (Federal) had been fwjpe beaten by the Confederates within six miles of Eichmond. Sheridan (Federal) had been checked in the Shenandoah Valley, and Beauregard (Confederate) was coming up with 20.000 men. It is said that Grant lost in one week upwards of] 2,rnomen Early (Confederate) attacked the Federal General Sherman with 30.000 men, driving him to Harper's Ferry. 1,000 men were put hors de rmnhat. Tn the midst of this fratricidal carnage we are glad to be able to record that the desire for n general peace gains strength. A great peace convention has been held at Svracuse. A similar convention had been held in Illinois, and jieaee delegates are said to be in the majority at the Chicago convention. The siege of Mobile is at an end, the passage being blocked lip with sunken vessels, materiel. &c. Meanwhile the Presidential election is becoming the ono great topic. The Chicago convention pronounces for McClellan and democracv. McClellan is, however, denounced by the pence democrats. Fremont withdraws, and Mr Lincoln leans on the Republican. Lee and Grant are preparing for another battle. Another draft of men is called for. The platform of the Chicago convention is fidelity to the Union and the institution of immediate efforts for the cessation of hostilities, a convention of States with a view to the restoration of peace, military interference at elections to be regarded as revolutionary. It appears by the last mail that McClellan rejects the platform, and a " regular split" lias taken place. In the religious world there is nothing worthy of notice, except that Bishop Colenzo has beer refused permission by most of the English Bishops to occupjr a pulpit in their dioceses But there is a voice from the popular pulpit which will he heard afar. Mr. Spurgeon has seceded from the Evangelical Alliance. In the commercial world considerable unensiness was felt just before the departure of the mail by the announcement of s'everal large mercantile failures. The most important, was that ot the Leeds Banking Company, the bills alone under discount being £2.000,000 of which more than half will not realize one penny. The private firms which had tailed include Messrs. Croskey & Co. ; Messrs. Levine & Morris • Messrs. Manuel & Buillman ; Mr. T. H. Sweet • Mr. Joseph Marks; Mr. J. W. Marsden • Messrs. Sualfield & Co.; Dawson, Graham & Company; and others.