LONDON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 532, 27 July 1865, Page 5

LONDON.

[I'HOM OUII OWN COBKESPONDENT.] May I. It is louej since the metropolis was in a greater state of excitement than it was on Wednesday when the assassination of President Lincoln was telegraphed from the Nova Seotia as she arrived oil' Queenstown The first brief despatch stating the fact that Mr. Lincoln had been shot, and an attempt made to assassinate Seward, in the fewest possiblo words, was posted up at one of the newspaper offices ill Fleetstreet, and was regarded by (ho public as a hoax, but as one alter another of the paper oflices announced the same fact and it wa* known that other telegrams had been received, great crowds assembled around the placards aud eagerly besieged the oflices for their second editions. Half-crowns were given on 'Change for second editions of the Times. Business was suspended, and men's hearts were too full of the afllieting news to admit of their thinking of anything else. Grief, rage, indignation, filled every breast. Even men whose sympathies had been wholly with the Southern cause spoke their unfeigned abhorrence of the crime, aud their deep regret that Mr. Lincoln should have been shot down in the hour of bis succ ss, and when his life seemed so nccessary to his country. While Mr. Lincoln at the commencement of his Presidential career ivas derided as an incompetent and ill-timed joker, ho has gradually enloreed the respect of the Knglish nation. They have noted his transparent honesty and simplie'ty of purpose — they have been compelled to confess that he had uniformly spoken well of England, and done all he could to preserve peaco between tho two countries— and they had been especially struck by his inag-na-'.imity to tho South when he had by his pertinacity and resolution laid it at his feet. The regret at his removal was greatly heightened by the distrust felt toward liis successsor Johnson, whose drunken antics when sworn in as Vice-President had disgusted everyono ; ho is said, too, to act under tho inspiration of Cteuoral Butler, and tliis seemed to augur

a sanguinary policy and to make war -with England much more possible. The funds thus went down considerably, and all kinds of securities wore affected. Similar excitement reigned in Liverpool, Birmingham, and other provincial cities. This evening Earl Russell in the House of Peers, and Lord Palmerston in the Commons, will move a formal address to the Queon praying her Majesty to communicate the grief of her Parliament to the American Government. This evening also the Americans in London are to meet under the presidency of Mr. Adams, the American minister, to express their sentiments on this deplorablo event. The well-known Fernando Wood has taken a prominent p.irt in the convening of this meeting.

On Thursday evening Mr. Gladstone opened his Budget, but it was a rather less elaborate performance than usual. He first of all, of course, took a survey of his past budgets, and diluted on the triumphs of his policy, culminating thiß year in a surplus of more than four millions—for the income of the year amounted to 70 millions, and the expenditure to only 66 millions. But the principal patt of his speech related to tho malt tax, and he remonstrated most convincingly that there was no good end to be answered by reducing it- If half of it were taken off it would only reduce the prico of beer a farthing a quart, and that the tax could not be much grievance to the farmer he held proved by the fact that more and more barley was cultivated year by year. He found that tea was much more heavily taxed than malt, and therefore ho should reduco the duty on tea 6d. a pound, but he should not touch the malt tax. He should also make a reduction in the duty on firo insurances, in accordance with the expressed wish of the House. But his great coup was the taking off 2d. more of the income tax, thus reducing it from Gd. to 4d. in the pound. This, with some Btnall modifications in the stamp duties, exhausted all the surplus but £252,000, which modest sum he asked to be allowed to keep in tho hands of the Government. The farmers' friends are of course very irate with the budget, but it has given entire satisfaction to the rest of the community. Dr. Pusey has published a letter giving his reasons why he shall support Mr. Gladstone as a member for the University of Oxford again. He lias Buch a high opinion of Mr. Gladstone as a man of conscientiousness and integrity that he believes the interests of the Church are safest in his hands. As for extension of the suffrage, he dnea not see why it should not strengthen the Church politically, even as it has done in France.

Tjondon, May 6. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Thursday night, moved tho resolutions necessary to enable him to reduce the income tax, the tea duties, and the fire insurance duty, and passed them all with very little difficulty. Tho tea dealers havo a month's respite to enable them to got rid of the stocks in hand, but Mr. Gladstono refuses to allow them any drawback. The advocates of Malt Tax Repeal made a feeble remonstrance but that subject has been completely disposed of by the speech of Mr. Gladstone, on introducing the Budget. He then stated that the consumption of beer-was largely increasing in England, and that already the quantity dn.nk every year garo an average of 600 quarts for every adult male. A " temperate" dock labourer assured the surgeon in a hospital to which he was taken with an injury to his hand, that he drank eight quarts a day. The quantity for an " intemperate" man was reckoned at from 12 to 16 quarts a day.

On Wednesday, Mr. Baines, the member for Leeds, moved the second reading of his Bill for extending the Borough Franchise by lowering tho requisite rental for a vote from £10 a year to £6. It was opposed by three members on the Liberal side of the House, while the Tory opposition Bat silent and enjoyed the speeches of its demolition like that of Aeteon by his dogs. Lord Elcho, who is best known as a gallant captain of volunteers, moved the previous question. This was seconded by Mr. Black, and supported by Mr. Robert Lowe, till recently Yice-President of the Board of Trade, and supposed to be a great radical. The bill was advocated by Mr. Leatham, brother-in-law of Mr. Bright, a smart and clever speaker, and Mr. Bernal Osborne. The arguments used against the bill were that deserving and intelligent artizans could put themselves in a position to enjoy the suffrage if they chose—a £10 house being within the reach of every decent man who chose to exercise a little self-denial—giving up for instance some of those daily quarts of beer which Mr. Gladstone describes him as drinking. It was further insisted that the interests of the working men and of the poor were admirably cared for by the present House of Commons, and that men engaged in daily toil were not capablo of giving politics much attention. This bill of Mr. Baines' would, it was said, unsettle everything and settle nothing—it was another step towards democracy, and when this country was given over to democratic rule, then farewell to its order and prosperity. Mr. Lowe concluded a singularly able und telling speech by saying, " The great liberal party may bo presumed to know its own business better than I do. I venture, however, to make this prediction : that if they do unite their fortunes with the fortunes of democracy, as it is proposed they should do in tne case of this moasure, thoy will not fail to do one of two things —if thoy fail in carrying this measure they will ruin their party, and if they succced in carrying this moasure they -will ruin their country.'' Six o'clock, tho hour at which all Wednesday discussions end, having arrived without any member of the Govarnment having risen, the adjournment of tho debate was an indescribable scene of tumult ensued. Tho Government was called upon to give up a day for the resumption of the debate, but this they seemed unwilling to do, and in tho midst of the cl imour the clock-hand reached the fatal point, and the Speaker declared that the question had dropped. The Government have, however, since consented to the resumption of the debate on Monday night. Miss Constauce Kent his now been fully committed for trial, for the Road murder. At the examination before the Trowbridgo Magistrates, on Thursday, tho Lady Superior of the Brighton Religious House was a principal witness. She was habited in a long black cloak, with an odd frill round her neck. She begged that she might not b3 asked more questions than was absolutely neeesary; for the relations between herself and Miss Kent, had been almost those of mother and daughter. She said that in various religious conversations she had impressed on Miss Kent the great aggravation of her guilt, and she at last related to her how she had committed the crime —carrying the poor child out of its cot, when it was asleep, and ki'ling it in the closet with one of her father's razors. She said she did it to revenge herself upon her step-mother. The Rev. Mr. Wagner was also examined, but refused to answer many of tho questions put to him, because, "as a member of tho Church, he could not break the seal of the confessional." Gough, tho nurse, who had not gone to Australia, as was re-' ported, was also a witness. Miss Kent maintained tho utmost composuro during the examination, and said nothing. Her father has had an interview with her in the gaol, and then sho was much affected; but sho exorcised more self-restraint than her parent.

Two very alllicting suicidcs have taken place this week. Mr. Prescott, he id of the firm of Proscatt, Grotc and Co., well-known banker.- 1 , and Admiral Fitzroy, whose weather predictions have lately been so famous, havo both cut their throats. The latter gentleman had so over-worked himself that he had lost his self-control.

The usual fleeter Hall meetings, by which tho month of May is celebrated in London, aro now in full play. This week the Hall has scarcely been empty from morning till night. The great religious societies show unabated vigour. The Church Missionary Society reports an income of £144,000 ; the Weslcyan Missionary Society, £141,000; and the British and Foreign Bible Society the amazing sum of £187,000, being £12,000 more than it ever raised in a single year before. It issued 2J million copies of the Scriptures La 170 languages last year. May 16

The result of the debate on Mr. Baines's Borough .Franchise Bill is very unsatisfactory to tho Liberals, and it may cost the Govorninent much at the coming elections. The debate was adjourned very much for the purpose of compelling the ministry to speak out, and on the second evening Sir George Grey was very early on his feet. Lord Palmevston was " indisposed," and his lieutenant had to perform the awkward task o*' shuttling oIT the question which his lordship was made Prime Minister to settle. Sir George, first of all, excused the Ministry for the non-fulfilment of their Reform pledges, by representing tho apathy of the people as so great that they were unable to make way with any measure on the subject. Then he said the Government would support Mr. Baines' Bill, through a second reading, but would not aeci p it us the bill, which ought to pass, or could settle the question. Lastly, he declared that tho Governm-nt did not intend to appeal to the country on any question of reform at all, but they should stand upon their past services without making any promises for the future, hut they would be willing to carry out

tho wishes of the people whatever they might be, on the subject of Reform, provided only they were expressed with sufficient distinctness and force. This feeble an( i unsatisfactory statement was jeered at throughout the remainder of the debate, and is making the Ministry unpopular with the masses. Mr. i'orster, tho member for Bradford, and Mr. Btanaleld, the member for Halifax, made able speeches in lavour of extension of the suffrage, and Mr. Horsman a rattling speech against it. In the end " the previous question " wai carried by 238 votes to 214, so the bill is lost.

Lord Pa.merston has been visited by repeated attacks of gout lately, and it is said that hia colleagues are so alarmed about his health that they are rasolral t > hurry on the elections thit they may b3 sure of the prestige of his name and popularity in going to the country. Tue noble lord himself is very timid about sickness ; the Marquis of Meath, who is about to marry Lady Paluierston's daughter, was lately staying at his house, and showed symptoms of scarlatina. His lordship heard it first while outside his door, which lie would not re-enter, but ordered the whole household, with tho exception of two servants, to await on the marquis to take flight to London that day. The whole of the bedding, hangings, &c., iu the rooms occupied by the marquis were afterwards burned and the furniture removed.

The Society for the Liberation from State Patronage and Control held its seventh triennial conference in London last week. About 750 delegates assem-ole-1 frjm all parts of the country. Their tone was exultant, for they believed that as Mr. Gladstone had said to some of their members, " Things were going in their direction." They are about to raise a special fund of £20,000f0r carrying on their operations with new vigour, and about £10,000 of it was subscribed on the spot. " These men," says the Guardian —the principal Church paper—"Are certainly in earnest."

On Friday evening the Marquis of Westmoath called the attention »f the Lord Chancellor to the refusal of the Rev, A. Wagner to disclose the statements which had been made to him by Constance Kent, " under seal of confession." The Lord Chancellor said that the law did not recognise such " Seal," and a clergyman refusing to answer any questions put to him in a Court of Justice would be committed for contempt. A correspondent of the Times points out that the 113 th canon of the Church forbids a clergyman from disclosing anything that has been cunfessed to him under promise of secrecy. It ig acknowledged that just before Constance Kent's confession was made public, she put a sum of £700 or £SOO into tho alms box of Mr. Wagner's Church at Brighton.

Hie same noble Marquis wont on to call attention to the eastern extravaganzas of the Tractarians in many of the London Churches, where the performanci'S are now assimilated as much as possible to Komish observances. The Earl of Granville in reply, raid that the Government had no intention of interfering, and the Bishop of London protended that lie could not get legal evidence, but lie had ordered inquiries as to one church, Sfc Alban's, in Holborn. The real truth is that the proceedings cost so much that the Bishops will not move if they can help it.

The Prince of AValcs has just returned from Dublin, where lie has been opening an exhibition. He was very well received, although the Fenians had met just before his arrival and recommended the people to abstain from taking part in any demonstration in his honour.

It is said that the Government intend to propose nn adequate pension for the widow of Richard Cobdon. Statues are about to be erected to Mr. Cobrlen in Stockport, S ilford, and Camden Town. Mdlle. Adciina Patti has been engaged for the Hnndel Festival at the Crystal Palace, at immense expense. The opera at her Majesty's Theatre is well supported, and the season is now at the height of gaiety, but it will be over this year much earlier than usual, because tbe lords and squires must be off to their counties to look after tlie elections, which ara now general!v expected in the middle of July. An unusual number of members are retiring, and. there is plenty room for new candidates. There vrill be a fierce fight for the Oxford University seat, and Mr. Gladslone's re-election is very doubtful. May 20th. The one Government measure of the session is a Bill to enlarge the area of riting from parishes to Unions. It was of course intended when the Poor aw Amendment Act was parsed transferring the management of paupers from the parocnial officers to a board of guardians chosen from the different parishes of a Uniiin, that the rating area should have similarly altered, but (lie opposition of the landed gentrr was so strong that it could not be attempted, and from that day to lliis they have prevented the changc. The present system enables landed proprietors to keep the parishes in which their estates are situate, almost five of poor rates, for they take care that no poor persons shall obtam a settlement in those pirislu's*. Lately the wretched condition of the dwellings of our agricultural poor has attracted much attention, and an "official report has brought out the fact that in many parishes a constant demolition of cottage property has been going on, although the demand and necessity for labour has inc-roased, and this can bo for no other roason than to lessen the poor rates. Th■> ministry have therefore brought in this bill for enlarging the arex for which poor rates are levied, because this would remove the inducement to drive the poor away from one parish into those adjoining. The measure has, however, been most violently opposed by the country party, and it is now working its way very slowly through the Lower Hous:. On Thursday night it created a most extraordinary uproar. Tae most wearisome of bucolic members were put up to speak against time, whereupon the supporters of the bill endeavoured to cough and whistle them down. The interrupted speakers and their friends grew angry, and a very excited scene ensued, which the Government wero obliged to stop by proposing an adjournment. It is by no means certain that the bill will pass, though it is so plain and simple a matter of justice. A bill to abolish the speciul oath which Roman Catholic members are required to take, renouncing the allegiance of any foreign potentate, &e., was read a second time, after a sharp debate, on Wedaesday. The new Romish Archbishop of Westminster is Dr. Manning, formerly the Anglican Archdeacon of Chichester. He is not a favourite among the Roman Catholic priesthood generally, or among the English Roman Catholic families. Hi= namo was not one of three sent to the Pope l'or choice, and his appointment has caused great chagrin. He appears to havo been chosen because, like all perverts, he is such an u 1 compromising zealot, such a teacher of absolute submission, and such an advocate for the temporal power. The Pope also probably thought that he would know how to manage the Wn«liah clergy, who are coquetting with Rome, and angle them over bucces fuilv to the Papacy. Everybody has now a scheme of Parliamentary Reform. Even Dr. Temple, the Head-Muster of Rugby, steps aside from his desk to propound one. He° would retain the present constituencies, but create a new one by their si le, consisting of everyone 011 the Rate Book. What is the special merit of the scheme, does not appear, bill it would admit the principle of household suffrage. State balls and levees, have succeeded one another in quick succession this week, but now the Q.ieen is oil" to Balmoral, and the gaieties of the Court are over.

Industrial exhibitions are very common now, they are becoming too common; but at one now opened at Covent Garden, some young men exhibited some very clever pen and ink drawings, representing a table with a number of books and papers strewn on it. Among these was an imitation of a bank note. The Directors of the Bank of England, under an old Act, which makes it ponal to imitate their notes, insisted that tlie drawings should be destroyed, and, on tho case being brought before a magistrate yesterday, he decided that the imitation of the note should be obliterated. May 26. The heals of summer have ooino suddenly upon us and this week thunderstorms have been flying about the country. T'.vo very severe ones lifive burst over the metropolis, hut they have not doiio serious damage her.'. In the Korth they have beon more injurious At l'rcston, on Monday, there was an unparalleled fall of hail. A man tvas killed in the neighbourhood by the lightning and much mischief done by the flooding of cellars, &c. 'lhc hailstones were half an inch lonpf, but all our English hailstones are eclipsed by oue tiiis week which comes from Cambrai. I he St. Quentin canal at that place, is said to have been completely s'o rt vd by the accumulationi of hail, stones which fell during a storm on »n.l GOO workmen have been h j ji mass ot ico of the sizu ot xi* , * Th fl which the entrance to the canal Med tale, i= wor > utmo3t seriousness by .sen ai memoirs, 1= t]ie jj^gtecrological 1«S "fct & nJ* " *•*•«

a falling off of 20 per cent since 1815. Thin they attribute to the extension of the drainage of lands. A new process of photographing on wood has just boen patented here, by which pictures can be transferred to panels and ceilings. The lute David Roberts' pictures were sold last week. TheC2 were more than 1000 lots. The highest price fetched by any work was £-109 for tho interior of St. Jacques, Antwerp. A picture by Mr. F. Goodall, entitled " The Post OQico," disposed of at another sale on the same day fetched £600.

Tho exhibition of the Royal Academy is a fair average, but contains no very striking pictures. There is always a great crowd round Frith's painting (by command) of the Princess of Wales' Wedding in the Chapel Royal at Windsor.

The Convocation of the Province of Canterbury has been sitting continuously for the last ten days, and has unanimously agreed to petition the Crown for leave to amend tho 36th canon which prescribes the form of clerical subscription. A bill lias been brought inti the Upper House by Government to alter tho form of subscription in accordance with the recommendations of the Royal Commission, which has recently reported on the subject. Instead of being required to testify their assent and consent cxanimo to everything tho Prayer Book contains, the clergy will only henceforth bo required to promise that they wiil use this hook and no other, in all the public services of the Church. It is admitted that tho change will make no alteration in the legal position of the clergyman nor in his moral responsibility to touch only the doctrine of the articles, but Convocation has made a wonderful fuss about it, and been especially jubilant about their consent being unanimously given bec&uso they think that this is a great step onwards, their being recognised ns part of tho constitution, and to all matters of church reform and ecclesiastical arrangment. being delivered over to their keeping. The Times, however, assures them that they are a set of nobodies for whoso opinion no one cares a fig, and recommenis them to go home to their parochial duties instead of stopping to cackle in London , ,

A Bill to abolish the special oath required by Roman Catholic members is slowly making its way through the House of Commons. It is supported by the CJ-overnment, but opp 'scd by the Conservative.-', who object to any change in " tho settlement of 1529."

Mr. Disraeli has issued an address to his constituents which is regarded as the manifesto of the Conservative party. He regards the history of the present Parliament as a great homage to the vitality of Conservative piinciples. The Pnlmerston ministry came into power, he savs, to abolish Church rates and lower the franchise, but they have not been able to do either, thanks to the Opposition, and the Conservatives will continue thus to uphold the Constitution in Church and State, without caring for office. " Placo without power," lie says, " may gratify the vain, but can never satisfy a noble ambition. Who may be the Ministers of the Queen are the accidents of history,'—a piece of wrttcbol grammar which has caused much laughter at the right hon. gentleman's expense. He has nothing to say abo ut foreign policy or finance, and does not attempt to oil'er the country any programme. Many of the elections will be very closely contested, but appearances now point to an increased Ministerial majority.

A Yankee Bounty - jumi'F.r. — The American correspondent of a daily contemporary supplies the following:—"The bounty-jumper — Englishman, Irishman, or German, as the case may he —has an infinite variety of aliases, a great faculty for assuming disguises, and an extended knowledge of the boundaries of the different states. He enlists, pockets tho bounty, is crafty enough to keep sober and to rescue it from the clutches of the broker, and then, at the very earliest opportunity, deserts, in order to re-enlist in another State. This is called 'jumping' the bounty. In the course of six months an expert at this frolicsome trade will enlist, say twice at New York, once in Boston, once in New Jersey, once in Rhode Island, once in Delaware, once in Connecticut, and once in Maine. They hanged lately at Alexandra, Va, a deserter who confessed to having jumped the bounty 27 times. This va? excessive and he swung. The fellow must have bcea a kind of dry humourist; for, expressing great penitence for his crimes, he told the captain of the guard that he had accumulated n sum of over 20,000 dollars, which lay to his credit in a hank in New Jersey, and that he would like to make his will. He made it, and bequeathed the bulk of his property to different charitable institutions, making a provision for sundry mourning rings and other little souvenirs to be distributed among his comrades, and leaving a handsome legacy to the captain of the guard, whom he appointed his executor. Rope Monday came, and the bounty jumper was strangled, deeply lamented and highly respected by his gaolers and expectant legatees, who very likely made his last hours as comfortable as they could by such little attentions as ico creams, huckleberry pies, fig and gum drops, and ' chaws' of big lick, justice being satisfied, the military executor obtained leave of absence, and went off to administer the estate of the defunct. Alas it was discovered that if he left any dolla ri behind, they were not deposited in anv bank in the state of New Jersey. There was ' nary red.'

A Litebahy "Woman*.—A square-headed woman vith a fised, rather hard, but not unkindly face, ■wearing spectacles, short petticoats, scant crinoline— [there should be added false hair, false teeth, and padded cocoa-nut shells] —if any carrying an umbrella and a roll of papers—is she not a British Museumite, and one familiar with the printer's devil j-—a practical, strong-minded, clear-headed authoress, ready for any work, and with energy enough for any vocation, and with half a hundred missions, of which, however, womanly subserviency or submission does not torm one. As she sits there with her strongly marked features and hei- watchful eye that sees everything, yet are none of the quick and rov'ng kind rather wide and steady, I can rend her history too, like the rest, perhaps more clearly than she can read mine, though T meet her big grey eyes fixed on me, and I know I am being photographed for future use. One thing I see which has no business there, and that is a wedding ring on her left hand. Her husband, poor man, has had a hardish time of it to be sure • for those deep dints in the forehead between the eye 3, and the furrow from the nostril to the mouth, and the look of pain and experience, and the unrest of a battle always going on and never ended, are not eloquent of rose-leaf and eider down ; and I fear my literary fr'aid's matrimonial possessor may at times find a strong-minded woman, making her due share of the family income, rather more of a helpmate than a sweetheirt. When women will leave off exaggerating good qualities they will have achieved a more thorough freedom than even they, when emancipated dream of; and that is freedom from the tyranny of their own weakness.—All the Year Round.

A Milkman, finding that his business was not •what it should be, resolved to sell milk, instead of milk and water, as he had formerly done, and thus test the soundncii of the old maxim about honesty. A day or two after he had effected the aforesaid change, he was told by one of his customers, a matronly old lady, that he need bring no more milk to her. In great surprise he asked her the reason Thy. " Because," said she, " the article you sold mo yesterday was the queerest stuff I ever saw. It had not stood, there two hours whan it had a nasty yellow scum on it."

Ho*\\ Colds are Caitgiit. —Another danger some times follows, which is remote, but may be fatal even to persons who are in the health. It is oneof the best known facts in science, that when a part of the outer surface of the body has been exposed Ion" to cold the greatest risk is run in trying suddenly" o warm it. The vessels become rapidly dilated, their coats give way and extreme congestion follows. But what, is true of the skin is tn e equally, and with more practical force, of the lungs. A man, a little below par, goes out when the wave of temperature is low and feels oppressed, cold, and miserable; the circulation through his lungs has been suppressed, and lie is not oxidising. He returns to a warm place; he tushes to the fire, breathes eagerly and long the he'ated air, and adds perchance to the warmth by taking 1L cup of hot drink ; then goes to bed, and wakes in a few hours with what is called pneumonia, or broncli'tis, or with both diseases. What has happened? The simple physical fact of reaction under too sudden an exposure to heat after exposure to cold. The capillaries of the lungs have bccome engorged and the circulation static, bo that there must bo reaction of heat—inilammation—before recovery can occur. Nearly all bronchical affections are induced in this manner, not always or necessarily in the acute form, but more frequently by slow degrees, by repetition and repetition of the evil. Common colds aro taken n this same way ; the exposed mucous of the surfaces of the nose and throat are subjected to a chill; then t hey are subjected to a heat; thjn there is congestion, reaction of heat, pouring out of livid matter, and all tlie-other local phenomena.