OUR ENGLISH LETTER.
[FBOM OUR OWX CO iltiKS i", iN D RNT,^ London, June 1. Ye'terday London took iti ho idav. It was it saint's dav—the Perby n ay ! It was as fine aDerby davn always aw, and the concourse of peoplon the I )owns was greater ever. The railway now runs right up to the course, and the facilities for getting down are now so great that "everybody" goes. The attractions of " the road" are are potent M ever, and despite the multitude that went by train, the whole way was throng d with vehicles of the usual heterogenous description, from the four-in-hand to the costermonger's cart. Tho race on this occasion was honoured by the presence of the Fringe of Wales, and a kind of national interest, inasmuch as the horse which stood first in the betting was the property of a Frenchman, and it was known that he was resolved on-avenging Waterloo by boating us on Out own ground, and carrying away the blue ribbon of the Turf. Tho horse with which it was supposed h# w QI ?ld hare to contest the raco was Sir. Chaplin's Breadalbane, but the event showed that he was no matchat all for the French horse. Twenty-nine horses came to the scratch, and after at least a dozen false starts they got away. Tho race was run in two minutes fortv-fivaseconds, and Gladiataur won easily by a couple of lengths, the horses placed second and third having been but little noticed iu the betting A lßrge number of French gentlemen were present to witness the triumph of their compatriot, and thev were iairly beside themselves for joy when his success .was assured. The value of the stakes wa-t £6,375. One of the horses that was to have started threw his rider during the deity at the post, but oth rwi a the day appears to have passed off without mishap. Tiie news of the capture of Jefferson Davis se?m» to have excited universal regret here. Nobody believes that he c uld ha-e had anything to do with Lincoln's assassination, and everyone feels that his execution would be " worse than a crime"—it would be a blunder. It seems a pity that an easy and broad road was not made fo his escap®. There is a little paper called the Owl, printed on tinted paper, and only making its appearance during the fashionable season. It is got up by the Hon. Evelyn Ashley, the Premier's private secretary, and other youug exquisites in the public offices, who hive plenty of Government paper to ocribl le on. and of Government time to spare. It publishes nil kinds of scraps about the official and fashionable world, and is generally a day or two in advance of the dailies in it, intelligence. Last week it announced that a fresh claim had been made by tn- .American (iovernment on us for losses caused by the Alabama This put all ilngland in a flutter and though the Globe on behalf of the Foreign Office, and the Daily Iscws on b-half of the American Minister immediately gave an emphatic deniil to thi story, people persisted in believing that there was something in it, and of this they were still more pereoadjd when Lord Palmerston, being questioned in the House on the subject, gave a very ambiguo >s reply, clearly for the sake of shielding hi- yomg protegees. The truth his now, however, been elici tei. The American Government has been in the habit of sending in details of the losses o c u-ioned by the Southern cruisers as they c ime to t-ieir knowledge, and some such details have been furnish-.t to our Ministers lately, but th-* question o f liibdity is ju-t as much pisiponei till quieter times mav r-n-----du-r its ca m discussion more agreeable, as it has ever been. lesterdiy Mr. Gladstone w nt to to address a meeting rhere on behtlf of ivs sou, who habee 'me a candidate iu the Lib-ral inter -t Me declared himself iu favour of " a co:ist lerable exten-io-i of tae franchise t > the worki-ig cUs-es," and regrette I that the country did not se.in prepared lor audi .1 step. Air. Gladstone's speech nt Che-ter has natunllv made much ioipressio-i Tn>* 7Y«in say tha". he i» evidently girding h m-rif up f r .1 t rw-jr 1 movement In the c -urse of ni> -peed'. ne said I hit h - un.l-r5t.....| by " liberal principle;., t u-t "f t-ie pe pie qialfi-d by prudence ana o_\ thr- pnncip'e- of their >pp .n- ----. nts. mi.-trust of cue people -n _v qiiilified by fear.' The dis'.incli -n says i..e Ti-r.-s. go-s to the root of ali controversies on tae ba.-is ui representation. June 3 Tha Princess of Wales gave birth to a son thi* morning at Marlborough H .use, and the public are informed that ■' her tvoyal Highness and the infant prince are doing perfectly well" The Princess always takes her doctors by surprise. Yesterdiv evening she was at a concert in St. James's Hall. Her first son is now just a year and five months old. Yesterday the House of Commons ordered Mr. George Mitchell Morris, an attorney, to be committed to .Newgate for forging signatures to petitions. This person was engaged by Azeem Jah, an Indian prince, who thinks he has some claims on the British Government, to assist in getting up his case, and •when the matter was brought before the House bv Sir Fitzroy Kelly, an astonishing interest in Azeem Jah was found to have developed itself suddenly in a number of London parishes, trom which numerously signed petitions were presented on his behalf. The committee on petitions made 8 >me inquiries, and, of course, discovered th.it the signatures were almost all forged. People had been employed to procure them ac the rate of a penny tor eaca name, and they ■were manufactured wholesale. The vote for Public Education passed last night almost without remark. It now amounts to very nearly £100,000. The whole number of children under inspection is. 1,133,00 a, and tbey get a better education than in any other country, except, perhaps, Am-rica. The Bank of England on Thursday reduced its minimum rate of discount from 4 per cent, to the unusually low rate of 3$ per cent. The reduced tea duty of 6d. instead of Is. per lb , came into operation on Thursday. The grocers are just now vying with each other in the cheapness of their teas, —professing to make a reduction of Bd. in thepouni—but this will not last long. The Board I of Trade returns for the four months ending April, show a decline in the value of exports as compared with those in the corresponding period of 1564, of more than two millions. This the first return for two years which has failed to show a steady increase in our trade. The public debt of the Federal States as estimated by an American commercial authority will amount at the end of the current financial year on tho 30th of June, to 3,000,000,000 of dollars, or more than £620,000,000. June 16. Parliament is hasting to its close. The estimates have been scampered through, and morning sitting for despatch of business have begun The !oth of July is now nim«l for tho rising of the House-. Honourable members are anxious to gee tho olecti in* over, for the delay increases thu expense, and the Ministry are in a Hurry lent Lord Pahn-r.-ton should die before the new Parliament is cho.-en. The la.-t attack of gout has m ido terrible havoc with his lordship's frame It is quite pitiful now to see him shuffle into tho Hou»e wiiti a perfectly bloodless, ghost-like faco, and hin whole b'.dy shrivel.ed and wasted. Ho cann <L r.;in .in long tog-ther in t'.e House, yet when uec«»»it> orinea lie can -peak, and Speak with spirit »iid vigour. The lobbies of ihe house of Commons are now always crowded; electioneering agents are very busy there, and it. i quite edifying to bee ibu ardour and muiri'MviiiCHt with which the members greet any i,l' their eonstiiu.'iit.who may happen to bo wun lering about Tho man whom at the beginning of the no-Mon they wo U id have totally forgotten, >md pass without a loon, the> now s-ize by toe hand, shake them most affectionately, are so delighted to boo them, and, taking them by the arm, lead them away to huvo a little confidential talk. Important hu>ine<S has this week been transactol The Lords ha*o read the L'mon (.'hargeability Bill a second tim > by a largo majority, and the Bill tor abohshi g Hie special ii.ith required of Koman Cath lie mem'.ers, has pa sed through committee in the Commons. This gave occasion for a remarkable speech from Mr Disraeli. Ho began bv acknowledging that "the gulf etieam of common sense" had softened the acerbities of religious controversy, and made extreme men of very little c .nseqnence; people did not now discover a Jesuit in every Homan Catholic. Oaths were little worth ; no oath would make the throne or the Church a whit the safer, but he, nevertheless, desired that the Boman Catholics should continue to take tho oath which engaged them not to make any attack on tho established Chnrch, because, if they ceased to do so, the nation might be alarmsd, and a panic bo created, which would net unfavourably on the catholics themselves, and hinder tho progr.RS of religious toleration. This sp> ech completely conf und -d his own party, they could not toil what to make of it at all, and they received it in solemn silence. The proposal of Sir Hugh Cairns to' retain 60 much of tho oath as required the «£Sivliee to <to fiotiusg to injure Uw eetufcfefewi
hureh wis negatived inn iui! IT o ".se ''J pm'.'-c, votes . ... But the House his n"fr b.-en ? crowded tM- se~ si .n as it was on Wednea lay afternoon when Mr 5 >schen moved the second mding of the Oxford Tests Abolition Bill. This mnisuro origi■mt d with voting Oxford — the P ,lrt . ,i ' the Universitv who are led by Pr .f.-ssor Uoldwm Smith. The.v dislike all theological t-sta, and they want to throw the University thoroughly open. At oresent a dissenter may take a B.A but not an >1 A. decree at Oxford without signing the 39 article?, because .'ill M.A.'s are members of convocation, have a vote for members, and may impose a veto on a'-ts for tn*» rojjulfition of the University ny tho hebdomadal ■ 'ouncil. Last year the bill was in chargo of Air. Dobson, the member fop East Sussex, and he dealt with the subject ve-y ging r rly- Ho did not take up the question on broad ground, and proposed to be willing to accept any alterations in committee. He thus <*ot a majority in the first instance, but ou the third "reading the bill was defeated by ft majority of two. Since that time Mr. Dobson has been made chairman of committees, and he had had to hand his bill over to Mr. Goschen, one of the members of the city of London. He is one of the most rising men in the House, and takes independent views. In moving the second reading of the bill on Wednesday, he boldly avowed that his object was to nationalise the Universit'es. and to repudiate the claim of the Church of t£ngland to any claim to special rights and privileges There. Whatever the consequences of adopting this principle might be, he wtis prepared to accept them. For his own part, he was r ady to throw ■pen the College as well as the University, hut that was not within tho scope of the present measure. The rejection '>f the tall was moved by Lord Robert Cecil, who changed his name while he was speaking. When he rose he was Lord Robert Cecil, when he sat down he was Viscount Cranbourne. The eldest son of the Marquis of fal sbury had died in the interval, and Lord Robert, his brother, is now heir apparent to the p erage. Tho la e Viscount Cranbourne was .bout forty-five years of age, and h id ad his life suffered from uientul derangement. Mr. Gladstone, who v.'ted for Mr. Dobson'a Bill last year, declared that he could not vote for it now, after the speech of Mr. Goschon. He was ready to let dissenters take the M.A. degree, without admitting them into convocation, and he would give them every facility for erecting halls in Oxford, but nothing more. Mr. Gathorne Hardy, who will be Mr Gladstone's opponent in the coming election for Oxford University, also male a strong speech ogaiust the bill. •'Ah!" said Mr. Vincent .">cully, "I see tha' this is the Oxford Tests Bid in more sense' than one !" The opponents of the bdl insisted that it would revo-lutioni-e the Univer-ity, and entirely destroy its religious character, leaving it only a great secular scho d Altera Ion; debate, the House divide J, and 2"6 members voted for the second raiding and only 190 again-t it. '1 h•b 11 was ther-fore read a second time, amidst great cheering, lb-re will probably bo no time to proceed furt ver with the bill th,is ses-ion. Last week was disastrously signalised by a series of terrible railway accidents —two of them on following days from the same cause, and such aea ise as we may trus: will never egiin be permitted to arise. A Great W-stern train pa.s-ing Kednal in Shropshire, and the d lily 'Tidtl train " bringing passengers fr.nn the Fol<.-tone packet—one of the ' est appointed tr ins in ill- kingdom, passing Maplehuret in Kent. n--re til <.>wu off the line by faults in the rails, which -'ere under repair at the moment, the train passed. In 'lie iaiter case two wh"le leu tns of rail were aetuiily i, and no p-"per means had been lakrn t j stop the advancing ir.iu. Ar this point too t ie line paired over a h i and the eons quenre was til it the engine and ni"st of the carriages to 'k a nap into t.'ie tirool; be.ow. ami ail were smashed (■>■ gather in the water. Fourteen persons were Uil el | on the spot and a great numb r most s-rimslv injured unong-t thi-e killed « t T: -everal young ■fives; one, a solicitor's wife, was returning wnli V-r husbml fr..m h.-r wed-ing tour. r. ( hirhs j .-'lek ns »;i, i . tiie train, bu' he was no! hart ; Vr*-1 r:a-' the Mes-rs. Barrv. well tin wn an i i wca:thv wharring-rs, were put ou ' h ir iriai at the j lilt al r.nnnal Court for delrau ling tnr Insurance j Companies by malting false returns of pro erty ) dest-oyed at thei- watehousra, in two iires which occurred suspiciously close to one another. The j Judge held that there was not ufficient evidence of conspiracy, and they were, uuder his direction, acquitted, but of the attempted fraud, there could be but one opinion. June 25 The business of Parliament, 90 far as the L >w,.r House is conc-rnei, is virtually over, but the Upp r House has a good many bills to dispose of. The session will therefore certainly close at the very beginning of July, and everybody is absorbed by the elections. But there is to be no whitebait dinner this year what this astonishing omission means no one can tell, but all sorts of surmises will grow out of it. Can the British constitution survive this breach ? As the day of contest dravs near, an astonishing number of candidates are making their appearance, and almost every borough will be fiercely fought, livery year increases the number of men who h >ve a sufficiency of wealth and education to make them passable as memb.-rs of Parliament, and their ambition is quite.equal to the occasion. The Conservatives have started two candidates for the city ; and as Baron ttothschild is by no means popular—being very seldom in attendance —it is probable that one if not b-tli will be returned. The .lection for Edinburgh, where the two Whig membersare opposed by men of a more advanced school, -will create a good deal of interest, and with that for th-» Uxford University will probably excite most attention. Oddly enough there have been three elections this week ; one at Coventry to supply the place of Mir Joseph faston, whoso death all England mourns, and two in the west, occasioned by the spite of that eccentric gentleman Vlr. Bernal Osborne, who, hearing ti.at his constituents at Liskeard were getting tired of him, suddenly th'ow up his seat, and compelled them to elect somebodv in his place Coventry was contested by an Irish professional lecturer, a great radical, agam ? t a respectable Conservative merchant, and the lecturer actually got 2000 votes, thongh he was beaten by a majority of SOO. Tno Great Eastern moved fom her moorings at Chatham, on Saturday, with the Atlantic cable all on board. 6he is now at the Nore and will begin her voyage in about a fortnight. The promoters of the undertaking are very sanguine of success ; a message 01 T'O words will be accepted as a proof of success The Piince of Wales, ever amiable and desirous of doing all that may s-em to be required of liim by his station is continually engaged in inaugurating all kinds of exhibitions and undertakings, from a'logshow up to a h ospit 1. He has be»-n worsed veryhard indeed this season. The other diy lie assisted at the opening ot the Lauyham Hotel. one of a seri-s of immense caravansei ais now bring erected in London. This one is at the top of Regent-street, and is a mugniGo nt pile of buildings. The papers have given elaborate detail, of the immense kitchen-, the tiers on tieraof bed-rooms the grand saloons. Nearly ,-ve.y railway terminus has one of these mnn-ter hut ; but those at (Jhar.ng-cross, and in Langham Place, outdo all other-i. The gue-ts arc hoisted up to the seventh iloor, on which their bedr iom.s may hup to be by a lift, for the fatigue of stuirs would lie uuendnrablrt But these lilts tire nt unalloyed r lief thsi have their danger* At the Gm-venor Hotel this week the machinery of one of them gave way, and nown it came, killing the pel gun inside, and so injuring a footman -tandniL'at 111) 1). ttnm, that r.o is sine •d- ad tno. It is said that suites in the l.angham Hotel have b--en taken by iirnna-sadors and bi hop-. I . is hard to u.d r •taud how they -should piv i'" it w-:ro n->t s > ; it is to be h .ped that Knglishuien will not acquiro a ta te lor hotel life, as a large number of Americans have done While these evidences of wesllh and provMons for usury lire ri-ing in some [mils of t:,e metropolis, the povoi ty and wiet hedne-s of others remains unabated. Bethnal Green c- nlinu-'S to f rnish dread ul tales of misery. Typhus has its con ta it vi tins there, but one particular spot has of late benn so deadly as to attract especial notice A corone 's inquest has b 'On held on some of tho victims, and the witnesses who came to testify t > the wretched c ndi t 011 of the houses, left the inquest rno ns mils' themselves to sicken and die. \ medical man said thit his remonstrances with the agent who collected the rents 011 the undrained filthy conditi 11 of tne houses were totally unavailing, and it cune out thut they belonged to a nobleman repu ed to p , se-s great wealth ! There are crimes against soei-tv, of which society itsc-lf can take no cogniza ce, bu; for which Providence will surely be avenged.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 555, 23 August 1865, Page 6
Word Count
3,312OUR ENGLISH LETTER. New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 555, 23 August 1865, Page 6
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