OUR LONDON LETTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5358, 18 January 1879, Page 6

OUR LONDON LETTER.

COURT, &c. [PRO3I OUR OWK COUUESPOKDENT.] Tue Queen, accompanied by the Princess Beatrice and suite, arrived at Windsor Castle, from Balmoral, on the morning of the 22ad ult. Her Majesty will, it is cxpecte 1, spend Christmas on the Isle of Wiyht. Prince Leopold has gone to Windsor, and was present at a Council held by the Queen yesterday. The Prnce of Wales, who, with the Princess of Wales and children, have bien .staying at Sandringham during the past three weeks, left there ou Monday, on % visit to Mrs. Gerald L-ugh, at Luton Uoo Park, aud returned to London this afternoon, in order to be present at the opening of Parliament. The Princess of Wales and children did not accompany the Prince t > Luton Hoo Park, aud are still at Sandrin^ham. Her Koyal Highness the Duche33 of Edinburgh left Coburg on Tuesday, on her return to England, and is expected rit Clarence House, St. James's, next week. The Duches3 and children are in good health. The Duke of Edinburgh, in command of H.M. s. Black Princp, arrived at Halifax a fortnight ago, and received the Marquis aud March ones* of Lome on their arrival in Canada. The Marquis of Lome and the Princess Louise arrived at Halifax ou the 23rd ult., | on board the Allan line steamer .Sarmatian, I after experiencing an exceedingly rough Atlantic passage, the Princess being confined to her cabin during the whole voyage. The landing took place on Monday, the 25th, when a m->st enthusiastic reception was accorded the new Governor-General and his royal coosort. After taking the oath of office, the Marquis received and rep)ied t'i aa address from the Corporation of thitown. Ou their way to, and on their arrival at, Montreal and Ottawa, they were also enthusiastically received ; and the Princess is said to be highly gratified as the cordiality of ber welcome to the Dominion, while the Canadians in turn have formed a very high impression of her Koyal Highness aud the Marquis of Lorne. The Queen has expressed her gratification at their splendid reception. The Ddke of Connaught and Prince Leopold accompanied the Marquis and Marchioness of Lorne, on their way to Canada, as far as Liverpool, and returned to London the same evening. The Duke of Connaught left London last week on a visit to Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia, to whose daughter, the Princess Louise, the Duke's betrothed, and to whom he is to be married at Windsor on the 7th February, as at present arranged. A number of gentlemen in Ireland are getting up a suitable national gift, with which to present the Duke on the occasion of his marriage. The late Governor-General of Canada, the Earl of Dufferin, was entertained at a banquet given in his honour, at Belfast, last week, and, in reply to an address with which he was presented, the noble Earl gave the Canadians an excellent character, and declared that if Great Britain were true to herself, and to those whom she sent to establish her laws in the four quarters of the globe, her colonies would be every day more disposed to recognise this unity, and to draw closer to each other and to the mother country. Count Schouvaloff, the Russian Ambassador at St. James's, has arrived in London, but it is believed that he will soon retire frsm his post in London. Count Beust, the late Austrian Ambassador here, has left for Paris, and has taken up his quarters at the Austrian Embassy there. The Queen has conferred a baronetcy on Sir Andrew Buchanan, late British Embassador at the Court of Vienna. The Queeu has conferred the honour of knighthood upon Mr. Frederick Leighton, the newly-elected of the Royal Academy, and upon Mr. Alderman Owden, late Lord Mayor of London. A marriage is arranged between the Earl of Carnarvon, late Secretary for the Colonies, and Miss Howard, of Greystoke. INDIAN AND COLONIAL. A Blue Book has now been issued, containing the correspondence relative to our relations with Afghanistan. From this correspondence, it appears that throughout the Viceroyships of Lords Canning, Lawrence, Mayo, aud Northbrook the Government ! steadily adhered to the principle of not extending the Indian frontier beyond its present limits, and that, throughout, every effort was made to remain on amicable terms with the Amir. The latter was very anxious to obtain an assurance from the British Government that it would support him in every enterprise in which he chose to embark, but this the Government wisely resolved not to yive, promising, however, at the same time, that, if the Amir were unjustly attacked, they would supply him with money and arms, and, if need be, with troops. Soon after the present Government came iuto power, the Marquis of Salisbury, who i was then Secretary for India, wrote to Lord Northbrook, advising the desirability of obtaining the Amir's consent to admitting British agent 3 to different parts of Afghanistan. Lord Northbrook, in reply, stated that a promise had been made to the Amir that English agents could not be appointed in his and that as it was a matter on which th»» Amir felt very keenly, he did not consider it wise to press such a proposal on the Amir. It appears, however, that ou Lord Lyttou assuming the Viceroyship, Sir Lewis Polly wa3 sent on a mission to obtain the Amir's consent to such an arrangement, and as the Amir was not prepared to acquiesce in the scheme at once, the negotiations were broken off abruptly by the Indian Government, and the British agent was withdrawn from Kabul. There can be little doubt, notwithstanding the evident intension of the present Government to sadd'e the blame of our present unfortunate relations with the Amir on the shoulders of their predecessors,—that the Amir's recent conduct has been wholly due to the action of the present Government. In his speech at the Guildhall on Lord Mayor's Day, the Prime Minister spoke of our present frontier being a haphazard one, and that a scientific one would, 110 doubt, soon be procured; but it is worthy of note that, in the correspondence which has been issued, and in recent Conservative utterances, nothing is said as to an extension of territory in the Afghanistan direction, altlxoagh there can be little doubt that such is contemplated. Many of the most distinguished of our Indian officers and politicians are of opinion that our present frontier caunot be improved, while others, if not of equal weight, of great abilities, seem to thiuk that an extension of territory in Afghanistan is necessary, in order to check the advance of Russia in Central Asia. Lord Northbrook has written a letter to Lord Craubrook, complaining of the manifest unfairness of his recent despatch, dated the ISth ult., and the Duke cf Argyll has addressed a long letter to the Times to the same effect; and this despatch is likely to lead to some sharp passage of arms in Parliament, which meets to-day. Several meetings, addressed by prominent members of the Liberal party, have been held during the past fortnight, at which resolutions strongly condemning the present Government for the present war were passed, aud the feeling aroused in the country is, if anything, stronger than that awakened by the news of the Bulgarian horrors.

Affairs at the Cape look very gloomy again. The Zulus, in great force, are making active preparations for war, and with the present small force at the commaud of General Lord Chelmsford (late General Tnesiger), great difficulty must be experienced in quelling the rebellion. Troops and stores are being sent out to the Cape, and yesterday morning the main portion of the 99th Regime nt, numbering upwards of 400 men, left for Southampton, there to embark for the Cape.

At a meeting of the committee appointed to make arrangements for the Australian Exhibition of 1579, which was held at the Bank of New South Wales, it was announced that a communication had been received from Paris, stating that a vessel of the French uavy would convey goo ls from France to Sydney, and als"> that it was intended to apply for a grant of 300,000 francs iu aid of the expenses connected with the Exhibition. Several applications for space by intending exhibitors have been received.

Under the heading of "The British Colonies," the Globe of the 27th ulfc. commenced a series of articles, a paper by Sir Julius Vogel on "New Zealand" having appeared on that date. Sir Julius gives a brief sketch of the geography, climate, population, railways, and land under cultivation in khe colony ; and its suitability for various classes of emigrants is there dwelt upon. The paper concludes with a glance at the mineral wealth of the colony—its gold, and coal, and iron ores, —from which it appears that during the 16 years ended in 1877 the goldfields yielded upwards of £33,500,000 worth of the precious metal.

The first meeting of the ';j8 Institute for the session ot 1878-79 took J" 4 ' "igj? on the r.lv'n ult., when Mr. Frederick rea'l a paper entitled " England aoi j ?°8 3j|S Colonies at the Paris Exhibition." r referring to the tph ndid services rend* by the Prince of Wales at the Exhibit"'"' dKS and giving a short gHnee at the liD S li s k"'"' CISS hibits, he dwelt at length on the show made by the coloncs." \y n ' k#® reference to New Zealand, he said. "The New Zralaod exhibits cotnpnW sample 3of wool and an * extract, probably fur tanning purpo aC^! n * -> collection of ordinary articles miiie of ? T" with tonus doors, hay-rak*s, &c\ ; a numj*/ J of native manufactures, carvin_. 3 oa "J ' and diroite or gre natone, and - New Zealaud obtained oue silver and *■ bronze medal. It is certainly muca totw * regretted that this spleudid and rapids advaucmg colony was not m-.»re ' represented in her great natural riuhe3 a J industrial pro lucts on this occa-ri-n." * • The value of the diamonds exported f ro the Cape Colouy in the third quarter of th* 1 ' present year was £500,000. * THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. The Auiirhaving voluuteered noreplytoth Viceroy's ultimatum within the pres cr jvj time—the 20th ult., —the British troops r the frontier received ihe older to march in? * ; his territory early on tue morning of Tba ; day, the 31st. Accordingly, the trooi? - which were eager for the fr*y, commence marchiug without a moment's delay n, plan of operations being that the force ucd ! - Geueral s>ir S. Browne should essay the ca*' ture of the enemy's position in the Khybe Pass ; General Roberts was to operate b- r i way of the Koorum Vall-y ; while the thi-i ' column, under General Biddulph, wag V* push on from Quettah in the direction o** Kandahar. The movement under Uener l ? " Browne was made in three sections, and wis ' intended to take fort Ah Musjid in fro and rear, and thus prevent the escape ot th* garrison. >o far, the attempt was ver\ * ac " cesstul, aud early on Friday morning V ' 22nd, the Briush ti ig waved over the fo^ tress, from which tue Amir'*s troops badtl-d hurriedly, many of them having been taken ~ prisoners—22 guns falling into our hands For some time a well- iirected tire was up from the Ali Musjid guns. A detach meat that sought to intercept the Afghan retreat was rather Beverly handled, the British loss being about 40 in killed and wouuded—including Major Birch and lieu, tenant Fitzgerald killed, and Captain Mc. Lean wouuded. After the capture of Ali Musjid, General Browne lost no time in pursuing the retreat* iog forces of the Amir, and by the aid of the Afghan tribes, who were up to that time very friendly to the British army, many of j , them were capture i, aud the .English forces ? • proceeded rapidly up the Pass, meeting with no opposition. After having reached and taken Dakka, however, the hill tribe 3 canted 5 considerable auuoyance to our forces, and for a time succeeded in cutting off communi. t cation with our rear, but energetic measaru having at once been taken against them, communication*-have been again renewed,and effectual measures taken against a repetitioa of such attacks.

General Roberts took Fort Kapior on the 21st, and advanced without opposition to the Koorum fort, from which the enemy fled precipitately. He then endeavoured to overtake the enemy by a forced march of eighteen miles, but was unable to prevent the Afghans from gaining a position in the Pindar Pass, which he found was of remarkable strength. He therefore halted for two days, to allow reiufoi cements to come up, and was to attack on the 2od, aud news of the engagement is hourly expected. The following telegiam has just been received, announcing the capture of Peiwar Kotul by General Roberta :—

Laiioke. Decembe-s.—General Hob rts has gained a complete victory, having captured Peiwar Kotul and all th« ♦-nemy's gu s. The enemy sustained x heavy loss, whiLjt on onr side there were eighty killed and wounded. Among-t tnose killed are CapUia Kel<o, nf the Royal Aruhery, and Capuin Anderson of the Pioneers. '

Lahokk, L-ecera er 5. i 2 30 pm. — General Roterts telegraphs from Peiwar Kotul, on the 3r»l insane, as fallows:— *'Daring the night cn the Ist in tant the Afghan position was turned by » fl-ink m.irch >ver the Spengwai Pass. We surprised the eneuiy at diybreak, when the 72nd Highlanders hnd the sth Ghjorkits dcuvj ihe Afghan troops gallantly from s-ver/il positions. They afterwirds endeavoured to r-ach Peiwar Kofcnl, hut tbe assailt could not i.e delivered on that sid*. We then th eitentMl tbe enemy** rear, and attacked Peiwar Kotul. which was occupied at fonr o'clock in the afternoon. The enemy, whoh»d been reinforced "b four r»ginients on the previous eveniog, offered a desperate resistance, and their artillery was well served. Their d-feat. howe7p.r, was complete. We captured 18 guns ani a large quantity of amrausitier. Our 10-s is mode ate, considering the numbers to wnich we were oppo-ed and the difficult nature of the country Major Anderson, of the 23rd Pioneers, was killed, nt Captain An erson, as at first reported. Gen >ral Cobbe acd Lieutenant Munro, of the 72ad Highlanders are wounded. The troop 3 behaved admirably. We move towards Shaturgardun Pass 00 sth instmt."

The Quettah column, meeting with no opposition, had, by the latest advices, reached Pishwaen, and is expected to reacli Kan.iahur hy the mid Ue of January. Offers of assistauce have been made by the chiefs in Afghanistan and the ludian native pritues. Tae health of the troops is said to be very good.

TBE EASTERN" QUESTION. The Roumanian troop*, under the personal direction of Prince Charles, have taken formal possession of the Dobrudscha. A misunderstanding expected to arise between Russia and Routnanpi as to the right of passage through the Oobrudsch3, has been averted, by the agreement of the Russian Governmeut not to demand any privileges except those conferred by tha Treaty of Berlin.

A -BuJgnriau A-ssemMy has been summoned to meet at Tiruova on the 29th December, for the purpose of adopting laws aud electing a prince to rule over tQe province, in accordance with the Treaty of Berlin.

Reports are ag.iin current as to horrible massacres by Ba?hi Bizouks and Redifs in Macedonia, and it is stated that no lessthaa 500 people h ; ive be fc n murdered by them. Correspondence ha* been published respecting the allege;! kidnapping and sale of Bulgarian children by Circassians, BashiBazouks, and others. Sir H. Layard states that reports have occasionally reached him of isolated cases of • children having been carried away by Circassians, but he has not been able to obtain any trustworthy evidence on the snbjeo:. He has now instructed some of Her consuls to make inquiries. A new Ministry has been formed at the Porte. Khereddine Pasha has been made Grand Vizier ; Ghazi O man Pasha, Minister of War; and Karaihedovy Pa3ha Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Imperial decree announcing the changes urges the new Ministers to carry out proposed reforms without delay, and to do their utmost to repair the erents of the war. PAR LI AM KN T A R\ AXD POLITICAL Parliament was opened to-day. The following is the Queen's Speech, which was read from the Throne by the Lord Chancellor :— Mr Lorz>s and GF.NTf.EMEN.— I tint I bite been obliged to c*U for Tour nttendacc: nt na oau«ual, and. prob*blr, to most of y«»u, *n inconvenient season. 'I he hostility towaid* my Indian Government manifested by the Amir of A fghaniuao, and the maun* r in which he re:uUe > niy friendly mission, left me no alternative bu* tr> make * peremptory demand for redr»«s. This demand having been disregarded. I have directed «n expedition to be sent into li s ierri;ory. and I have t%krn earliest opportunity of otllin* you together, an* making to yoa th* communication rt-quir« by I xr. 1 have directed that paper* on th«- subject shall be laid before yoo. I rccfivn from all foreign SVwers • s'urances of their frien<lly feeling*, and 1 h-*ve «rcry reason to believe that the arran^erae't for the piciflcitioa of Europe, made by the Treaty of Berlin, will be successful)' carried into effect. Gestl-mkn or the Hocse of Commons,— Tb« Ksiiniatvs for f'-e en?ui -p year are in course of pr*" paration, «nd will, >*i due 'itiie, be s:ibaiUce 1 to yonMt Lokds and t» ■ ntl>2M en, I nropose that, after full deliberation upo • thf- mitten which have led me to tint cip-itc vourusu*l of meetia-, asd, after a uitible recess, v u should proceed to the consideration of varions ir.e »swr-« for tae public bereft which will ihen be lai i be'ore you I commit to your the sreat interests of Kmpire, and I pray thit the blessing of Go l may attend your coun>els. On Saturday ( Mr. Gladstone, who was elected for Greenwich in November, IS6S, paid a visit to liis constituency, which vas looked upon as a farewell one. In the aiteiuoon he was entertained at luncheon in the Ship Hotel, and, in r<rs to the toast of his health, coutined h;;u principally to the value of ori-auisv.iou, wiiijh he said uid been greatly neglee : el by r'.ie Liberal party in recenc years, and npou them the faithful adoption of thi* »-»:r -linghatn pl» D » until they could find a b«tt . In the evening he addressed a meeting in the skating rink, ■ hen he was presented with au address » x r es?iug regret at the severauce of his connection with the Borough of Greenwich, and the pride which the Borough would ever feel at having bsci* associated with his name and fame. Mr. Gladstone, in reply, said he could not dra^' ia detail the contrast between the present time and five years ago. He did not know what the ** harassed interests" thought of it, but at present he knew of one " harassed interest, which was the British nation. He then spoke of the unconstitutional manner u* which the present Government carried on its Legislation. Regarding the accusation

that he and his supporters were the friends 0 f Russia, he declared that the Government had been the real friends of that Power, having brought it back to the Danube, from which it. was driven in 1856. They w«re its left-handed friend, who had done good to .Russia by their bungling attempts to do harm. He then vindicated his Governnn nt from the charge of responsibility for the Afghan war, ami commented severely on the mneth paragraph of Lord franbrouk's despatch, which, he said, stated things true * n themselves, its a manner to convey a totally false impression. He feared that the war was unjust, and he impressed upon hid hearers that national injustice was tin: roa.l to uattonal downfall.