NEWS IN BRIEF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XV, Issue 5173, 15 June 1878, Page 6

NEWS IN BRIEF.

An epidemic in Medelien, South America is depopulating towns. Rich and extensive gold placers have been discovered in Durango, Mexico. It is now stated that ex-Marshal Bazaine ia in Madrid, and in good health. A Jesuit preacher has been txpelled from Spain for attacking the Government. The Duke of Argyll owns 175,114 acre?, nd has a pleasant y early income of £50,005. Prince Charles of Uoumania has offered a prize of 1000 francs for the best history of the Turco-Roumanian War. Oliver Pain, who escaped with Roohefort from New Caledonia, is stated to kavxs been captured and shot by the Russians. Strikes have lately been so nusrrcrous in France that an inquiry is being instituted by Government into their origin. The intended marriage of tfca Duko of Genoa with a sinter of the Queen of Spain is renounced. Cluseret, the Communist General of 1871, is believed to be in Persia, drilling the Shah's troops. Taere is a report that the Marquis of Lome and Earl Dunraven are to v isit America next autumn. The Khedive's sixth son is in England, studying for admission to the Woolwich Military Academy. The Prince of Wales is growing bald, aud longs for a crown to cover the spot before it grows any larger. The New England Methodist Conference, at Weatheld, voted not to admit ministers in future who use tobacco. Pope Leo sends this word to the tramps and beggars who call at the Vatican for alms : "It is God's will that man should earn his bread by the ?weat of his brow." Surprise is expresseo at exceptional precaut>uß being taken by the Russians at J assy in seuding armed patrols through that town. Prince Gortschakoff, a son of the Russian Chancellor, who for some years had represented his country at Berne, is to be sent as Ambassador to Rome. It in understood that the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Schwerin will shortly be betrothed to the Grand Duchess Anastasia, daughter of the Russian Grand Duke Michael. Madame Foamier, the wife of the French Ambassador to Turkey, was lately invited to dinner, with her husband, by the Sultan. She is either the first or second Prankish L \y who has had this honour. When Rosbery entered her husband's house in Scotland the other day, the housekeeper met her at the door, and, in accordance with an old Scottish custom, broke an oatmeal cake over the bride's head. Intelligence has reached Athens from Yolo of the capture of the notorious bandit Arnous Aghas with GO followers near Pelion. By order of the insurgent chiefs he is to be tried by Court Martial for having committed acts of atrocity on women and children. The late Lord Leitrim was personally a frugal man, aud did not spend more than £2000 a year ; but he habitually kept from £10,000 to £20,000 at his banker's in order to meet the demands made upon him for the expenses of the lawsuits in which he was always engaged. At an American back wood hntjlthe novel method of charging for luncheon and dinners "by weight" has I cen tried. A gentleman who went there with two bricks in his pocket which he slid under the table, says that on coming out of the scale they had to pay him 2a od. A faction hostile to Pope Leo is a'sid t:> exist among the Cardinals, headed by Berardi, Bilio, and Martinel.'i, displeased with the temperate tenor of the Allocution, the appointment of Ui Pietro as Camerlengo, and the fact that the Pope has not announced his accession to deposed Sovereigns. The Abbe Debaize, who ha 3 been commissioned by the French Government to cross Africa from Zanzibar to the Atlantic Ocean, embarked at Marseilles on the 23rd instant. He expectb to be gone three years. Nine missionaries, from Algeria, accompany him to Zanzibar, their obj'.ct being to establish Catholic missions at Lakes Victoria and Tanganvika. The " unbridled luxury" of some of the ■parrenin-* of Western America bids fair to surpass anything of the kind iu the old country. The latest instance is that of Mr. Mackay, the Bonanza millionaire, who has furnished Tiffany & Co. with silver ore from hi.n mines, out of which they are to manufacture a dinner service of 150 pieces, to cost £18,000. Governor Fairbanks of Vermont, in his Fast day proclamation says :—" Let us especially pray that He will graciously vouchsafe to make and keep us as individuals, and as a State aud a nation, inflexibly honest even in times of financial depression. So shall we fulfil ou.r high destiny, and transmit to our the rich legacy received from our fathers." The Prussian Governmenthas strengthened the garrisons on the eastern frontier. The reason given is that precautions must be taken to prevent the importation of cattle disease. It is understood, however, tbat the Government has acted with a view of preventing disturbances in Poland, or suppressing them at once, should they arise in connection with the Russian War. The Government of Berlin is determined that the Polish question shall not be revived. Captain Burton, the celebrated African traveller, commanding the Khedive's expedition to survey mines in the land of Midian, has returned, bringing to Alexandria 25 tons of specimen ore, comprising gold, silver, copper, tin, and lead. Captain Burton found three sulphur centres, three turquoise mines, and extensive deposits of gypsum, saltpetre, and rock salt. He goe3 to England to arrange for the working of the mines for the Khedive. The financial cost of the war to Russia evidently constitutes one of the most fearful losses that the Empire has ever sustained. It appears from a careful analysis made by the S'.atixt that the operations against Turkey have involved an txpenditure of about £90,000,000. As to men, it now appears one in six of those sent against the Turks was killed or wounded. This may well warn more civilised nations what hostilities on a large scale signify in these days. It has been pointed out that the new Pope's infallibility has been strikingly disproved by a glaring error as to an historical fact in his recent letter upon the establishment of the Scotch Hierarchy. In this letter the Pope gives a cursory view of the Scotch Church from its origin, referring to the patron saint of the Ancient City as being " instructed in the faith of the venerable Bede." Now, St. Ninian died in the year 432, while the venerable Bede was not born till 073—241 years after St. Ninian's death. It is .nanifest, therefore, that the Pope is anything but infallible in his historical statements. The United States Consulate at Jerusalem sends an account of the recent visit there of General Grant. The General was met at Kalourah, five miles from Jerusalem, by the Dragomans and Guards of the Consulates of the Greek Patriarchs and of the Pasha of Palestine, and by a military company of cavalary, and welcomed into the city with mililary honours. The Pasha's military band was in attendance upon the General daily, and during the time of his stay he received every mark of consideration from the Pasha and local Consul and dignitaries of the Greek and Armenian Churches. An encyclical, just issued at Rome by the Pope, poiuts out that it is wrong for society to comhat the Church and the Roman Pontificate, especially regarding the latter's civil principality, which is a guarantee of its liberty and independence. The Pope renews and confirms the protest of Pius IX against the occupation of this civil principahty of the Church. His Holiness is conbctent that with the aid of God and the zeal of pastors, society will finally return to the homage it owes to the Church. The en cyclical is generally moderate and full of expressions of affection toward society. There is a member of the House of Commons who for the last three years has been locked up m a lunatic asylum. There ia no prospect of his ever being able to resume his tuuction of legislator among those who represent the united wisdom of the country, and bv whil h y , ea ° Ugh ' fcre exkts *> oimS£ lnS f Beat . ccan,n be v *<*ted. A member ;,K e , n \ M •« known, cannot of himself «££•■««" BCa t~ all > °»" do is to aooept that office of profit under the Crowu" as steward of the Chiltem Hundred*, Xh ha been reserved for the purpose of voiding elections and rendering necessary the issue of a new writ. But a member i 8 not of course competent to take office under the Crown if he is mad and locked up. If he is mad and not locked up the case is naturally different.— Vanity Fair,

IS MR. BEECHER GUILTY ? — MRS TILTON'S CONFESSION. The American papers are again filled with columns upon the scandal. Mrs. Til ton has written a*ad published a letter, about the genuineness of which there is no doubt, and in it she asserts that her former protestations of innocence were false, and that she was guilty of adultery with the lie v. Henry Ward Botcher. The following is Mrs. Tilton's letter :— " Mr. Ira B. Wheeler : Dear Sir,—A few weeks since, after long months of mental anguish, I told, as you know, a few friends whom I had bitterly deceived, that the charge brought by my husband of adultery between myself and Rev. Henry Ward Beecher waa true, and that the life 1 had lived so well the last four years had become intolerable to me. That statement I now solemnly reaffirm, and leave the truth with God, to whom also I commit myself, uoy children, and all who must suffer. I know full well the explanation that will be sought by many for this acknowledgment—a desire to return to my husband, insanity, malice—everything save the true and only one, my quickened conscience and sense of what ia due to the cause of truth and justice. During all the complications of these years yoa have been my confidential frieud, and therefore I address this letter to you, authorising and requesting you to secure its publication.—Elizabeth K. Tilton. Brooklyn, April 13, 1878." Mr. Beecher was absent from New York at the time, bat the letter was telegraphed to him, when he despatched the following reply :— " To the Editor of the New York Tribune. —I confront Mrs. Tilton's confession with an explicit and absolute denial. The testimony to her own innocence and to mine, which for four years she has made to hundreds in private and public, before the Court, in writing and orally, I declare to be true ; and the allegations now made in contradiction of her uniform, solemn, and unvarying statements hitherto made, I utterly deny. I declare her to be innocent of the great transgression. — Henry Ward B&echer." The Tribune says : —" Mr. Wheeler called at the Tribune office yesterday afternoon with the original of the above document, and submitted it for publication. There was no question of the genuine character of the document, no matter under what circumstances it had been obtained and promulgated, and at Mr. Wheeler's suggestion and wish it was put in type. A reporter subsequently had an interview with Mr. Wheeler, but he was very reticent. He stated that he wjis a distant relative of Mrs. Tilton. He said he was very reluctant to be known in any connection with the matter, and that in fact his only connection was in submission of the documeut for publication. Mrs. Tilton had at once authorised and requested him to see that it was published." A gentleman who was prominently connected with the defence in the Beecher suit, on being shown the proof-slip of the letter, after reading it carefully, without evincing any surprise, looked up and said, " Well !" On being asked his opinion of it he at first declined to express any, but subsequently remarked that Sir. Beecher's frieuds had expected something of the kind for some time. As to the statement of Wheeler, to whom the letter was addressed, that Tilton did not know of its existence, the gentleman reaiarked with a smile, "That would be the way he would go to work. Frequently during the winter," said he, " Mr. Beecher lias been applied to for money to aid Mrs. Tilcon, the request or demand not technically coming from her, nor purporting to be made with her knowledge or consent, but for her benefit. This demand wa3 accompanied by threats and intimidations that if it was not met something would turn up. Mr. Tilton's influence over his wife is very great, aud she cannot resist it." A gentleman living near Mrs. Morse and Mrs. Tilton, and well acquainted with both, says :—" The eveuta of the last few months have led me to believe that the arrangements for a reconciliation bttween Tilton and his wife have been completed. He frequently sent a carriage to Mrs. Morse's house for his sons, meeting them on Yates Avenue, two or three blocks away, and after a drive of several hours, the boys would return" alone. On one occasion Tilton drove back to the house, but did not alight. He has sent Mrs. Tilton money on several occasions. Mrs. Tilton went to Warrick, notwithstanding Mrs. Morse's denial, and the sons are my authority for the statement that she engaged rooms there for the summer, and that on Mr. Tilton's return from Europe in August, with his daughters, the family will be united." A Tribune special says : —"Beecher, on being interviewed at Waverly, said : It is impossible to conceive, if her present confession is true, of such an elaborate, prolonged, and extraordinary career of falsehood as she must have practised. Upon her husband's statement of his accusations before the Committee of the Church, she broke away from her husband's house and refused to live with him. She took refuge in the house of a dear friend, to whom she gave an unvarying testimony of her innocence, and the baseness of her husband. She went before an Investigating Committee of Plymouth Church, and with wonderful pathos cleared herself of £rery charge of domestic infidelity, and underwent the closest questioning. She broke friendship with former friends for doubting her statement in this matter. When the case was in the Courts, after her husband's testimony, to the surprise of my counsel and of her friends, she rose in Court and demanded of the Judge that she be permitted to testify to her innocence." Mrs. Tilton on being interviewed, only said, "It's all right, sir." She has become a plump, pleasant little woman. She has been earning not more than thirty dollars per month by dress-making. Tilton, under pretence of supporting the children, has her a generous allowance, aud latelj gave her for herself an elegant India shawl. Beecher's old counsel were generally not much surprised at the confession. ALLEGED CONSPIRACY. Rochester, N. Y., May 2. • The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher arrived here to day en route to Geneva, where he lectures to night. Mr. Pond, Mr. Beecher's agent, was asked by the New York Herald correspondent "What was there in the recent statement in the Herald that Beecher would shortly institute proceedings against Tilton and Moulton ?" " There was a good deal in it," he replied. " Are there new developments on which such action will be based ?" " There are. A man who has been connected with Tilton and Moulton from the first has disclosed everything, showing full details of conspiracy from first to last." " Who is this man ?" " I am not at liberty to give his name, but I ca»i say he was formerly an editor of one of the Pfew York papers." " Is he still an editor ?" " No. He is now in the New York Post Office." " What connection had he with the case ?" " He was in the confidence of Tilton and Moulton through all. They dared not trust each other, and he was middle-man, to whom all secrets were confided. He was custodian of all papers showing oonspiracy, and at the same time took full memoranda of conferences and conversations. These show every point of the conspiracy and lay bare the entire plot." " What was the conspiracy?" " First, to blackmail Plymouth Church, and, failing in that, to ruin Mr. Beecher at any hazard aud by any earthly means." " What share had this middle-man, or mutual friend, in the transactions except a_ stated ?" " He wrote articles for a New York paper, bitterly denouncing Beecher, and controlling the tone of the paper in this matter " " Why did he do it?" " He was letained by Tilton and Moulton for tbat work to influence public opinion. He may at first have been honest in his opinion, but subsequently he discovered the plot. He say* that during the trial of Beecher the counsel for the defence frequently came close to clues which would have ruined all, but they didn't happen to get hold of the facts that would have shown the whole case in its true light." " When did Beecher learn what this man has told ?" "The next day after he returned from lecturing in .Rochester. He came to Beecher's houtie in Brooklyn, aud Beecher referred him *to bis counsel." " What prompted him to disclose these facts >. "It was in fulfilment of a promise made to his mother to right this great wroug by unmasking the viUany and putting Beecher m possession of the whole inside history of the conspiracy." '

" Will his testimony receive full credence ?" "His statemeuts alone might not, bnt these are backed up by papers and documents 60 overwhelming a s to be absolutely incon--1 trovertible. When made public they will set Beecher right, fully and for ever, before the world. There are some of the lower classes who use Beecher's name for a synonym of all that is bad. Nothing could reach them or change their ideas, bnt all intelligent people, whatever their previous opinions, will unite in acknowledging that Beecher is absolutely vindicated." " What line of action has Beecher decided to pursue against Tilton and Moulton ?" " I do not speak for Beecher, but I know he leaves that all to his counsel. On Tuesday they spent the day in rigid examination of this man, and are now going through his papers and evidence in detail. Bat what this man says, and has documents to prove, can put Tilton where he belongs." " What does this man say of Tilton's relations with his wife ?" " He says Tilton always knew bis wife was innocent of the charges of improper intimacy with Beecher, and that in the conferences of , Tilton, Moulton and himself, Tilton used to show anger if either of the others alluded to the matter as though it were a fact."