The Mails.

Otago Witness, Issue 1340, 4 August 1877, Page 16

The Mails.

NEWS FROM HOME.

(fbok ouk own ccbkesponbeht.) colonial items. There is scarcely a scrap of news of any in terest specially relating to New Zealand to be recorded this month, which in this respect is the dullest I have known these three years. Doubtless there will be a little stir presently, when the arrangements are completed for complying with the telegraphic instructions sent by the New Zealand Government to despatch 5000 emigrants, but in the meantime things are so quiet that one might almost describe them as stagnant. Under the circumstances, therefore, Si*- Julius Vogel's ill health i 3 productive of less public detriment than might have been the case. lam told that he is still unable to fully discharge his duties. Ur Webster is still in Scotland, and wa3 in Edinburgh a few days ago. Even the dreadful weather he has encountered during his prolonged stay in this country seems to have been unable to affect the Doctor's health and spirits, for he is still as burly, rubiound, and genial as ever. New Zealand will shortly receive an emigrant of a not very hopeful description. At the Middlesex Sessions on < May 23rd, Philip Bridges, aged 21, and described as a medical student, was charged with having stolen 10 Lombard bonds, the property of his father. He was found guilty, but sentence was deferred till the next sessions to afford the fat'ier an opportunity of making the necessary preparations for sanding his son to New Zealand. Apart from the objectionablenesa of making the Colony a kind of moral dust-hole, where rubbish may be shot, such conduct is likely to bring disrepute upon emigration, when the latter is put forward as a fitting alternative of penal servitude. The Medical Acts Committee of the General Medical Council has had under its consideration the propriety of placing on the register medical men practising in the Colonies and possessed only of Colonial degrees and diplomas. After much deliberation, the following resolution, proposed by Mr Simon, was adopted : — " That medical qualifications granted under legal authority in any part of Her Majesty's dominions, and entitled to practise in such part, should be registered within the United Kingdom on the same terms as qualifications which are granted within the United Kingdom, but in a separate, alphabeti-cally-arranged, section of the register."

At the ordinary quarterly convocation of the Grand Lodge of Scotland (Masonic), held in Edinburgh on May 7th, the Hon. Mr Whitaker's appointment as Provincial Grand Master for the Nyrth Island of New Zealand was confirmed. The Edinburgh Daily Review, in recording the circumstance, called Mr Whitaker " the Hon. Lord Whi taker " !

It has been made known that the Bishops of Nelson, Wellington, and Christchurch, have intimated that they will not be present at the Pan Anglican Synod, which the Archbishop of Canterbury has summoned to be held at Lambeth Palace in the autumn of 1878. The other New Zealand Bishops have not sent any definite answer. Among the subjects which the Archbishop proposes for consideration is that of " Missionary Bishoprics and Missions." Three of the English Bishops (Winchester, Norwich, and Peterborough) disapprove of the Synod and will not attend. Twenty-eight American Bishopj heve signified their approval, and five have expressed their disapproval of the meeting.

An English edition of Mr W. Frank Buckland's book, "The Bridal Wreath and other poems " has been issued in London, by a publishing company which is the dernier ressort of authors who have failed to get their bcoks published by private firms. Mr Buckland does not seem likely to earn much fame in this country, if the Scotsman's critique is to be taken as a fair sample of what awaits him at the hands of the' reviewers. After calling him " a mere rhymester, without a trace of original power or inspiration," the Scotsman goes on to say — "'The kiud of 'poetry' that Mr Buckland produces can be turned out on the shortest notice by an endless array of native bards. It is too bad that the public should be afflicted with samples of the same commodity fram the other side of the world."

A book apparently- of a very different sort from Mr Buckland's is advertised aa "now rearly," though I have not yet seen a copy of it anyhere, nor any notice of it in the newspapers. The book in question is " New Zealand, Graphic and Descriptive," an eight-guinea volume in elephant quarto, dedicated by special permission to the Prince of Wales. It contains 25 large chromo-lithographs, and very many wood engravings, and views representing scenes in the North and South Islands of New Zea. land, the whole being executed from original water colour drawings by Mr C. D. Barraud, of Wellington, The descriptive letterpress, and the legends which accompany the illustrations, are from the pen of Mr W. T. L. Travers. Such a book as this ought to have a good effect in directing the attention of wealthy rovers to the beauties of your Colony. I see it stated in the newspapers that Mr B. L. Farjeon is to be mamed next week to a daughter of Mr Joseph Jefferson, who is described as "the popular comedian." A foolish Colonist occupied the attention of Sir James Ingham at the Bow street Police Court on May 16. The manager of the Tavistock Hotel, Covent Garden, waited on Sir James on that date to ask what he should do with a bundle of bank notes which he held in his hand. It seems that they belonged to a gentleman who had just arrived at the hotel from Melbourne, and whose name did not transpire. The day before he had cashed a cheque for LIOOO, and had since been scattering banknotes about the hotel — giving the shoe-black, for instance, L 5 for cleaning his boots. The manager of the hotel had received between L2OO and L3OO, and he wisned to know what he was to do with the money. The magistrate said he had no light to interfere, a3 unless the gentleman was shown to be insane, he had an undoubted right to do as he pleased with his own money. The notes werc'in very good hands at present, but if their owner appeared to be insane, it would be best to consult the Commissioners of Lunacy on the subject. Captain J. C. R. Colomb,- Royal Marine Artillery, read a paper on "Russian Development and our Naval and Military Position in

the North Pacific," before a large audience at the Royal United Service Institution on May 25th. In the course of it he said it should be remembered that the Power which can rule the North Pacific may rule the South Pacific, though why the converse should not happen he omitted to explain. As showing the value of British intsrests in the South Pacific, Captain Colomb added the interesting statement ' that last year the aggregate value of the exports and imports, of Australia and New Zealand was ju3t double that of the exports and imports of the whole United Kingdom in the" year the' battle of Trafalgar was fought. LONDON GOSSIP. Mrs Bravo's sudden death at Cannes was sedulously reported by some of the inferior London papers towards the" beginning of 'the month, but the canard was settled by an* authoritative contradiction of it in the Times. A metropolitan weekly tells the .following rather good story:— "A West End jeweller the other day endeavoured to tempt a gentleman to buy a piece of old-fashioned silver, and declared that it had been discovered in a par-; ticular field near a certain town. ' Will youcertify that in writing V asked the gentleman. • Certainly, sir,' said the tradesman.' 'Do so, and I will take the flagon.' The tradesman wrote out and handed to him the required certificate, whereupon the customer pocketed certificate and flagon together, saying, 'Thank you, lam lord of that manor. lam glad to receive my dues.' " The manager of Cremorne Gardens — a man named Baum — was the plaintiff in a libeL action heard iv the Court of Exchequer, before Mr Justice Hawkins and a common jury, on" May lOfch. The defendant was a Chelsea tailor, named Brandon, who is also the minister of; a,. Baptist congregation in the neighbourhood. He had circulated copies of a ballad in which Cremorne -Wardens were described as "the nursery of every kind of vice, a pest to society, and the ruin of the young of both sexes." . The plea was one of justification, and evidence was given conclusively proving that the gardens were all that they had been described to be. As, however, the verses were calculated to bring the plaintiff into contempt, the jury returned a verdict in his favour, with one farthing damages. The Judge expressed his approval of the finding, and on the application of the defendant's counsel deprived the plaintiff of costs. A cunning thieves' dodge was exposed at the Bow street Police Court on May 12tb, when an old man named George Stanley was brought' up on a charge of loitering about near ..the Strand, with felonious intent. .It seems that,' taking advantage of the recurrence of the May meetings, he had dressed himself up like? a minister, and carried in his hand a large' umbrella, partly open. Into j this 'receptacle, his confederates, several well - known 1 female thieves, dropped any article they had succeeded in stealing, Stanley on a given signal loitering past them with apparently innocent unconcern. A previous conviction being proved • against him, he was sentenced to three months'" imprisonment, with hard labour. - - j . xet another exposure of the rapacity of London money lenders has been made. In a case lately heard by the Master of the Rolls; it came out that a loan 1 of L 23 15s. 9d, which' was obtained from one of the cent.-per-cen't. fraternity in 1867, had in the ,ten years been run up by various processes to LB5O 10s. The huge mansion erected at Kensington by Mr. Albert Grant is ODcemore exercising the quidnuncs of London society. The latest report in circulation regarding the house is that the Earl of Dudley is in treaty with Mr Grant for it, but that the latter asks L 250,000 as the purchase money for tha house and' grounds,^ while the Earl is not willing to give more than L 200,000. The arounds cover seven acres; "and besides a garden, hothouses, &c, they include a rink, an American bowling alley, a lake and' boat-house, several fountains,^ and- separate lawn, tennis, - croquet, and archery grounds. As for the house itself, it ,is fitly described 'as "almost, fit for a Royal' palace." A "man so enormously] wealthy as Lord Dudley ,would be an appropriate owner for such a property! : but ! he is a singular man, and 1 'may prefer to lose the chance to giving more than he -thinks the' place is worth, though he is the opposite of a niggard. If not disposed of privately, much talked of property will be put, up !to % auction in a few days, and the' endless, specula- ; tions which have been indulged in regarding it' during the last two years will doubtless be then" laid at rest. . ~. ' ." .„ ■ ■' " Society " in London is crazy over the beauty of a young lady, the daughter of, the Dean-of. St. Helier's, Jersey, who, is. now in her first "season" in the metropolis. .The "weekly paper called Truth, asserts that " the other day, at a paity, she was 1 fairly mobbed, and more than one duchess climbed upon a' chair to gaze upon her." If this.be true, cne can only say, that it shows that duchesses can 'be as vulgar as persons at the other end of- the. social ladder. t . ' '. , ~*" THE LAND OF MIDIAN. \, > Some interesting particulars have been published of an exploration of the ancient land of Midian ju3t made by Captain Richard Burton, the celebrated traveller, at~ the request 'of the' Viceroy of Egypt, the suzerain of the region. The country is situated on the east side of tbe long arm of the Red Sea. known, as the Gulf of Akaba, and is cut off from the, sad* gulf by a range of granite and pcrphyry mountains^ which run parallel with the sea, and can only be traversed by the "wadys," or gorges cut by streams. These wadys are new nearly all barerock, yet Captain Burton found there the traces of the former existence of a large population such as large towns of solid masonry, "roads cut in tae rock, aqueducts five miles long, re mains of massive fortresses, artificial lakes." He also reports great discoveries of old mine*, and 'of mineral wealth still unexhausted, and, as *■ he was accompanied by M. George Marie, who is described as" an able mining engineer in the service of the Khedive," it is to be presumed the statements made on this point are those' of a skilled witness. They are remarkable enough. Tin" and antimony were found, as well as evidence of the former existence of turquoise mines.Silver anii gold were also found, and the laiiter' both in quartz and in the beds of the streams, was found, by actual experiment, to be' rich enough to pay the cost and trouble of working.' "Each ruined town," writes an Alexandria' correspondent of the Times, to whom I am, in-, debted for these interesting particulars, " had its mining \corks; dams' for the washing of sand and crushed rock were frequently seen ; scoriae lie about near ancient furnaces ; in Bhort, the traces are numerous of a busy mining population in a country which seems to be full of mineral wealth. From Makna tMugna :of the maps), the capital of the land of Midian, up to Akaba at the head of the Gulf, Captain Burton reports the country as auriferous, and he believes the district southwards as far as Gebel Hassani— a mountain well known to geographers — to possess the same character. He even goes so far as to say he has brought back to life an ancient California. . . . Captain Burton has kept elaborate notes, and he maintains'that they will bear out his golden views -of the -land of • Midian." The Kkedive is much pleased at so unexpectedly glowing an account of a region totally unknown, and he has asked the Foreign

Office to grant him Captain Burton's services again next winter in order to make further explorations. Meanwhile, the specimens brought away by the expedition are td,i& chemically tested. Captain Burton, writing under "date May 17 to a friend in Edinburgh, eaya:—' Th9 whole story, which reads "like a* bit^of-^the 'Arabian Nights', will come out zn my volume, ' The Gold Mines of Midian,' which awaits only the plans and sketches of the Egyptian, officers and'the report" of the Viceroy's miner»logi|ta. You really can congratulate'me. ,' Thejand is -one medley of metals." It is 'interesting in view of theae discoveries to note that 5 jn-'th© Scriptures the wealth of s the Midianites is prominently , recorded, especially in 'Numbers, chapter xxxi, where we read that they haclcitie» and " goodly, castles,", large flock? and^herds,, besides "jewels of gold, chains and "bracelets, rings, earrings,' and tablets;" 'Again, in Judge* viii. 24-27;- special mention is made of their gold earrings and the chains on their icamels^necks ; and in Isaiah Ir. 6, Midian is mentioned in connection with,, the gqldofS.heba, All the references seem to point to gold as 'having oncebeen'plentiful in the land of Midian. t ,'Whlst if the' next gold rush should- be to the mysterious land where Moses once kept 'tiie«BhMp* of ' Jethro, the priest of Midian,- hisiatherrin-law? PROPERTY -AND BEVENTCSS r OF ' THi'OHtJBCHJ OF ' -v ' V :,- -ENGLAND. • -> «j^ • >--"> % Mr Frederick MartuVth'e well-known -Editor of the "Statesman's Year Book," has published some .■ interesting, particulars ti o£ the , kinds of; revenue enjoyed .by tfiefChurch. of. England. The investigation was'juhdertailsn. at the request of the Liberation Sopiety^wnos* -raison d'etre is' disestablishment'of-'the Church, but Martin says he has' carried on"' the enquiry purely from a statistical and not from ajpartisan point of view. -,• -The j following; tabular statement gives the result of his investigations: — " ' ---•-. -■ --- . , , *', ' *Ti Anpual ■ - "-• - \ -' jiumber. 'Income. Church dignitaries, including deans, -'* -'tl'-^/i -2* &o. .. , , ..?,■ 172., £347,000 Extra cathedraL revenues ..'".. — " "130,000 Beaeficed clergy ' .. '; ./' •.. 137300- 6,027,000 Net revenue • of- Queen Anne's ■>•- j^^sicfA Bounty ... . -.. „.,-,, .-..,, ; : B*,ooo ' • '• 13,472 £5,538,000 suet disposable inco«ne ol.the Eccle- ■ „-\.i?,O siiitiqal Commissioners .. ..< ' ■ £700 000 BuildiHg and repairing of churches v ] .7^l*ooo^ooo .',•.-,. £7,238,000 Mr Martin -calculates, that ,' the.. Church .owns nearly <a* million' acres, of land,;, for tbe, ; most ,part» rich and.JEertile j, ,w,hile its - ."feligjous edifices" number abqut ( « 16,000, including, 30 r cathedrals and 10,000' glebe^houseß.' - tTnese Ir figiireß show the magnitude *'of the"inteisMitß at (ststke, 7 arid 'consequently the' difficulty 1 ' -o^tha ;task of disestablishment.' • ■'- '. .;<»M ./. * ■-■ ' THE LONDbN ; HAT)inEETfsfaa.^ "' *!! The .following" tabular statement) compiled jfrqin the*?reports- in> the Times,' shows^'ihe income .and expenditure os/severals /several' of theimis,sionary and other societies Kvvhosefahnual meetings.were. helcl in London;in;May :— j.-j c<a "j' . ', '" 'i"~ -. >i j'-v^-t ;';Expsndf~ -„,>--. „*..__ , Income. - r.ture CnwrcbrMtaskrtuwy Society - ;. J£190,693J £190,693 '""-£210,869 Wesleyan "do 'do ' '.-•..'^ 146,231' ' f 184.18& London. -! do - do -,- .." 109,1(10 + ,-•■ 111.H6 Baptist do do „-. 38,369 v" T 88,336 Eng. Prea. do do. '.."" "'9,i02.^ : ' J '.;'ri I 03» Colonial do""» ''do -' ;U; U* >)r '" 3,006^- "--^2,800 London City Mission ,- r.. t 46,460- .j 48,642 British arid Foreign Bible Society 104,461* - 212,408 Keligious Tract Society '- '- " .. '152,629 ltu '-"iW,725 ' The total number of missipnanes".'emp!oyed ,by-the,London i City Mission* was 442/ being a decrease of 8. l ' lU '"'•» ■' -'-■' :■: ■ Jj>j ' j - •"-« #« > Theisaues of -the British and 'Foreign". Bibltt Society .were 2,670,742, copies of Bibles, jJTeataments, and, portions, making the.. total. ,iß3uea .Bince ,th,'e foundation, ,of 'tHelSqrfei^T^lOSj^ copies/'. "At -the,^meetirig^of" this, Society^ the Archbishop 'C"ariterbury" : atated J ' thatHtho Scriptures are now freely circulated in'efery CQuntrytpf 'Europe jexcept.BohejmX , •• !' , t ' The ..Religious .Society, issued : , during the year .456 nevv, publications, r of^hich^l22 were , ,tractsV .containing, ". .with "' the , reprints, 602,567,600 pages. "The total . bifculationof- all kinds' of publications 'from "the 'h'onte'^ud foreign depots of the Society' reached' a total off ,61,958,67-L copies.,. „„.,,:■ „.-,,>': -,<■," ;,_ IRISHjNOTES. ~,..j~ iUI ,/ '^4 , , Saunders's/ News, Letter, ,the. % oideßt newsE^per published/ not, .only; in. Dublm^wfc in elana, appeared for., the last time on^May 11th. It was a' Conservative' or'ganj andtfirsfe appeared in 1688 under the' haine 'of the Dublin News Letter, which name was changed to that cf Sauhdera's, News Letter in •17£&;?It;had rlong been in a languishing condition..- ;Tho Freeman's" Journal, is now , the .oldest Hying Dublin newspaper, ,and -it seem^to'Jjave abundance of vitality m it' yet, "The^copyright find plant of Saunders's i N6w8 < "'Letoer were subsequently sold in • the Bankruptcy Court for L6OO. ' , - , _, „ - .jj :;,;5 . .. Cordinal Cullen has issued, a pastaral to his clergy,- pn the subject of the Tui-kp-Ilussian war, in which,,, while .he says-it: w jj^tVttieir business to undertake the defence of either side, it is evident that'h^s sympathies^iie with? the Turks, whom he. dismisses with. a Blight refer- > ence to their barbarous treatment .o£tbe,Christians "of late years." On the other, hand he says that the. Russians, V.ndtb.J.a - skill, worthy of Julian the Apostate t in hb.'hatrat of the 'true religion* have" carried on a cruel arid 'destructive persecution for so many years against thePbles. If," the.Oardinal adds, ." Russia; be- allowed to take possession of Constantinople and-of tTurkish Provinces, there is every danger that,under her^influence,. Cossack. barbarity will b^jvidely spread, that Governments will become despotic, that in'dmdual * and family ' ( liberty will be destroyed;' and ' God's Church 'placed' in' great jeopardyl" " . ; „ -' .. > -.j. J . -*; -sr- ! •.• . ." ; An interesting case, bearing- upon ,the,right of parish prksts to assail -.the, characters of their flocks, has juit been heard in the , Irish.Gourfc of Comriibn, Pleas, at' ( Dublin. " . The , plaintiff was a Tipperary farmer named M'GoughVwho. sued the' Rev. T. Finn, parish priest 'of "Newcastle, in that County, for-LISOO damages for slander uttered in a recent sermon.- -j Thewwds 'complained-, of -were : — " Let no >man, ; jvpman. or cnild keep his company, x talk toTiim": arid 'if hecpriies, into any, .town, tiSjikettle to his tail.*! 'The reverend' erii^loyer' of _ i£is'choice language did not' deny thatrhe had' used itj but put forward; as his .defence a, plea of privilege. The Court, howeyer, decided that a^priosj; making charges during "divine 'serpce, "against a member of his congregatiori j was,not"privileged in any way, but, on the contrary; ■fe&s 'guilty of violating both the law of the land arid the law of his own Church. • The need of * such a'Hecision is great in Ireland, where the priests exercise terrorism over their people Jby threats of denunciation from the altar.' ' \- «■ The polling for the election'of -a member to repiesent Tipperary in Parliament in the'rnom of the late Hon. Mr O'Callaghan, took place on May 15th, and resulted in the, return°oif the Home Rule candidate — Mr Gray, of the''Freeman's Journal — by 3852 votes, " as 'against/ 2508 obtained by his sole opponent, Mr.Casey, the Nationalist, candidate. The,lat'e member was also a Homeßulerl ' " l< 'J . •' 'l' v -,f'

Trade is very dull just now in the IJrish linen manufacturing district.! 'A Belfast pape^estimates that the number of spindles idle is nob less than 70,000.