LONDON.

Otago Witness, Issue 988, 5 November 1870, Page 4

LONDON.

(FROM. OTTB, OTVff CORRESPONDENT.) August sth. There has been continued increasing depression in the City ever since the declaration of war. Heavy losses have been incurred by the speculators in stock and shares, and the Jews are understood to j have been all heavily hit, their leading ! men having believed to the last in the preservation of peace, and backed their opinions accordingly. There have not been, as yet, many failures, and trade generally is not interrupted, some branches of shipping being rather improved than other- j "wise. The failure of the Norwich Bank, j Harvey and Hudson's, caused by over-spe-culation, and the suicide of Sir Robert! Harvey, though disastrous to his family and immediate friends, has not brought) down any other house of importance, j The stoppage of the Brecon bank of ! Messrs Snead and Company, reported thiß morning, is not of any importance. The coal owners are busy shipping fuel to France, to the great indignation of the Germans, who Bay that it ought to be declared contraband of war. But our Government are content to warn the merchants of the risk they run, if captured, of being condemned in a German prize court. The shippers laugh at the warning, for they know that the French have ' swept the German Ocean and the Baltic, and everywhere they see German veßselß, both Bteam and sail, lying idle in English ports, afraid to venture forth, lest they Bhonld be captured.

The Roman Council has at length adjourned, after having voted the infallibility of the Pope by a majority of three to one. Nearly all the English and Irish, Spanish, Italian, and Belgian, as well as American prelateß, voted for the dogma. | The Hungarians, Germans, and French ] ■went the other way. The Government of j Austria has in consequence given notice that it considers the Concordat at an end. Cardinals Rauscher and Schwartzenberg purpose retiring into private life, and the whole of the laws regarding marriages and schools will forthwith be placed on the anti- Jesuit footing. Pere Hyacinthe, in France, and Father Suffieid, one of the most distinguished converts in England, have published their warm and ■well-reasoned expressions of regret at the course which has been taken. But Archbishop Manning has returned exultant from the Council, though as yet without the Cardinal's hat, given him in fiction by Mr Disraeli

The decision of the Dean of Arches in the caae of Sheppard v. Bennett fills High Churchmen everywhere with exceeding joy. Sir R. Phillimore has always been avowedly an adherent of Dr Pusey ; and the tone of his judgment is substantially conformable to the doctrines taught by that learned divine. The elements in the Sacrament may be adored by devout communicants, who so interpret the meaning, of the Anglican confession of faith. But the priest ought not to repel from Communion those who cannot so read the doctrines of the Church. Notice oi appeal is already given to the Privy Council, where it is expeded that the decision will be different. The Archbishop of Canterbury's rebuke to the Hon. Charles Wood (eldest son of the Lord Privy Peal), who inked, binx to denounce the admission of Dissenters engaged in the revised translation of the Scriptureß to the Sacrament in Westminster

Abbey, has eyeked a memorial of remonstrance to his Grace) numerously signed by clergy and laity, but to whioh he has not yet given his reply." The Archbishop is very Broad Church, and, like his predecessor Tillotson, desires a large measure of comprehension, not of exclusion. The public in general go with the Primate ' r but the Ritualists are numerous, active, and as energetic aa ever. Today the Prince of Wales presides at a great meeting of all sects, at Willis's rooms, to raise contributions for the purpose of sending out nurses to take care of the wounded of whichever army may require them. Churchmen, Catholics, and Dissenters are combined in the central Committee, and large sums are expected to be raised for the humane and cosmopolitan purpose.

The struggle is renewed from day to day about the Census Bill. The Dissenters wish the enumeration of different sectß to be omitted, because they do not think they should be fairly given, all the Indifferentists and Anything-arians being set down as Churchmen.

The firßt grant of money haa been voted to build a new National Gallery, which is by degrees to be built on the site of the old one. But a curious difficulty lies in the way of immediate progress. To clear the grounds for the formation of a new edifice, it will be necessary to open one of the plague pits, which have been covered up for a great many years ; and this it is not considered safe to do until hard frost sets in.

A great sensation was created in high life about a fortnight since by the suicide of Lord Elcho's eldest son, the honourable Francis Charteris. He was a young man of good intellectual capacity, but of so ■weak a constitution as to be unable to take part in the ordinary pursuits and pastimes of his time of life. He consequently devoted himself to study, and latterly, his sight becoming prematurely impaired, the privation so preyed upon his mind as to cause insanity. While all the other members of Ms family were enjoying themselves at the Camp at Wimbledon, the poor fellow was left alone at his father's mansion in St. James's Place. He appeared to be much moved by the intelligence of the death of M. PreVost Paradol, at Philadelphia, and he seems to have taken the melancholy resolve to follow his example, by shooting himself through the head. He lingered for nearly a week, but never recovered consciousness.

The opera season at Drury Lane came to a conclusion last week, the last performance being for the benefit of the Prima Donna, Mdle. Nilsson. This second Jenny Lind is about to start for America, where she has been engaged by Herr Strakosch to make a tour through the States, in company with Mdle. Cari, contralto, M. Verger, baritone, and Venatemps-, the violinist. Mdle. Schneider's French opera bouffe season was also closed last week. Considering the heat of the weather, she has been remarkably successful in attracting large audiences to see hor eccentricities. From Paris, we hear of nothing in the way of music but the " Marseillaise," which, since the declaration of war with Prussia, is recognised as the national air. It has been sung at the Opera Comique, and is sung nightly in the music halls. On Faure's return to Paris, he has been called upon, as well as Madame Dass, to sing it according to the Rachel rendering — that is, in giving the words " Atnour sacre de la patrie," to ineel, enveloped in a tricoloured flag. We hear that the French enthusiasm is something indescribable. Gustave Dore* has just finished a large drawing illustrating De Musset'B famouß Rhine song. It represents the phantoms of the Old Guard, and the 12 Rhenish castles saluting Young France, as they rush by to the fight. Dore'a versatility is truly wonderful. His paintings include every phase of the art, and subjects the most I diverse are produced almost at the Bame moment. He has just finished painting ' his *' Martyrs in the Reign of Diocletian," and the " Scenes of London Life," upon which he and Blanchard Jerroid have been engaged, is announced as being about to appear. But there are complaints that the quality is no match for the quantity, and many condemn his last picture (which, by-the-way, Her Majesty .the Queen has seen, and so far approved as to command it to be sent to Windsor for further inspection) as showing great want of taste in design. The yearly encampment of Volunteers on Wimbledon Common has just broken up. After shooting for the prizes, in which England was the victor against Scotland and Ireland, they finished up with a review. Some 18,000 men were present, and they did not make a bad show ; but it remains to be seen whether aa many would muster if they were actually wanted for purposes of defence. The unfortunate eveut in the family of Lord Elcho was a considerable damper upon the proceedings. His lordship iv the acting Commander- in-Chief .of the whole body, besides being a Colonel of

the London Scottish j and he is the soul of the movement. ! Many of your readers will be glad to learn that the old country can still hold her own in yachting matters, notwithstanding the recent defeat she sustained round the Isle of Wight. In the International race across the Atlantic to New York, the Cambria and Dauntless, both English vessels, got into harbour within four hours of each other, the Sappho, American, their late victorious opponent, being a long way behind. Midnight. P. S. Telegrams have been received by the Government of fighting all day at Weissenburg. Marshal M'Mahon was determined to recover possession of the place, cost what it might ; and that he has found it so difficult to accomplish is j regarded as a proof that the tussle will be hard throughout the campaign. But Weissenburg has for more than a century been a French town, and to leave it in possession of the army of the Crown Prince ef Prussia would be fatal to the prestige of Napoleon 111. At the hazard of weakening his centre, reinforcements are supposed to be hourly sent southward to M'Mahon, and the question on , everybody's lip to-night in Paris and London is, what if the convergent corps of the Prussian right should avail themselves of this opportunity to march on Thionville 1