(Per R.M.S. Sorata and Tongariro.) London, April 10

Te Aroha News, Volume II, Issue 104, 30 May 1885, Page 3

(Per R.M.S. Sorata and Tongariro.) London, April 10

The Easter Holidays. Our Easter holidays passed off very successfully. We had beautiful weather from Good Friday to Easter Monday. After that date a spell of cold east wind set in. Perhaps the facility which the fine weather afforded for getting out in the open air had much to do with the remarkably orderly manner in which Easter was observed. There was scarcely any drunkenness visible in the streets— of London, at least— and the conduct of the lower classes of the com munity as a whole was most praiseworthy. It was also noticod that there was a much better attendance at chapels and churches than used to be the case a few years ago. Perhaps this is in a great measure due to the gradual change in the character of our services, particularly in churches. They are much more ornate than they used to be, and music forms a more prominent feature than formerly. There was an unusually largo congregation at St. Paul's on Easter Sunday ; but this was in a great measure duo to the fact that Canon Liddon, who is now in residence, was preaching.

Volunteer Review at Brighton. The Volunteer review at Brighton, too, was very successful. The only drawback was that a good many men foil out on account of the heat!- a very unusual source of complaint at this time of the year. But j those who took part in the review say that they experienced glorious weather the wholo time, and their sunburnt appearance when they returned to London fully bore out this assertion, Immense crowds of people witnessed the sham fight on Easter Monday. An incident occurred, however, which tends to show that should the Volunteers be called upon to defend our coasts in case of invasion, it would be well for spectators to keep out of the way. One brigade spent half the day in firing into what was supposed to be a large force of tho enemy, but which afterwards turned out to be dense masses of spectators who "wore cresting tho heights. A little proper scouting would surely have corrected this error. Mr Hugh Conway, the author of "Called Back," is seriously ill. [We since learn by cable that he is dead.] A rumour has been current for some time that Mr Gladstone is devoting his leisure to a now literary work, and the story has got about that this is to be a life of George Eliot. It is said that the Queen is spending her time at Aix-les-Bains in preparing for publication the literary remains of the late Duke of Albany. These consist principally of his speeches. For some time previous to his death the Duke had achieved a good reputation as a public speaker, and, whenever hia health permitted it, he was in great request, so that a collection of his speeches will be a large one. The court scribe, Sir Theodore Martin, is to edit the book, and will preface it with a short sketch of the Prince's life.

The Prince of Wales in Ireland. Tho Prince and Princess of Wales, together with their eldest son, are receiving a welcome in Ireland, the cordiality of which surpasses anything which has been known in the sister isle. Messrs OBrien and Healy talked in a very bombastic strain just before the arrival of the Royal visitors, and at the present moment the " United Ireland" is indulging in some very coarse language. But there are only just sufficient manifestations of disaffection to bring the enthusiastic loyalty of the remainder of the population into full relief. Yesterday the Prince and Princess held a levee at the Castle, the crowded attendance at which may be judged by the fact that only about 12 seconds were occupied by the presentation of each lady to the Princess. On the same day, also, the Prince carried out the original intention with which he visited Ireland by personally inspecting some of the slums of Dublin. Wherever the Royal party were recognised in the low quarters of the town they were most warmly cheered, the women in yoking blessings on the head of the Prince and his "fine son." The Lord Mayor of Dublin —who had a flag flying on the Mansion House —was very near coming to grief. While on his way to the procession to meet the Royal guests, a report arose that he intended to slip away from his carriage. A rush was immediately made by the loyalist crowd to prevent him doing this, and he was obliged to explain that ne had no intention of absenting himself from the ceremony. It ia not known what was done with the flag which the students of Trinity College, Dublin, "removed" from the Mansion House. According to a current report these young gentlemen went out to sea in a small steamer to meet the Royal vessel flying the flag at the mast-head ■ Another comio incident of the visit was that when Prince Edward was accompanying his father on the inspection of the slums he stepped on a heap of garbage and fell full length on the j ground. The prospects of the Royal tour are now most brilliant, and their Royal Highnesses appear so gratified with their reception that a Royal residence in Ireland would surprise no one.

South African Troubles. Mr George Baden Powell is at present engaged in studying the South African difficulty on the spot, and also in promoting the work of the Imperial Federation League in that quarter of the globe. He will, no dcubt, present an interesting report of the state of affairs in South Africa when he returns home. We have not had' any further news concerning the difficulty between Sir Hercules Robinson and General Warren, but we learn that the latter has almost completed the pacification of Bechuanaland, and that the trial of Van Niekerk, and the discovery and punishment of the murderers of Mr Bethell, are the only two tasks of importance remaining to him. It seems highly probable, however, that affairs in Basutoland will attract his attention, and it is also hoped that he will undertake a settlement of Zululand.

Professor Seeloy's Lectures. During the week Professor Seeley has concluded a course of lectures in the Bast End of London, on "The Expansion of England." In the course of the last he said : — " Mr Bright tells us that the wars of the British Empire were due to guilty ambition, that the proceeds of them went into the pockets of admirals and generals, and, generally speaking, that the British Empire was founded in the interests of the younger eons of aristocratic families. Now all this is not to see just the very thing about those wars which is most certain and obvious. They were not at all prompted by lust of empire, and they were waged in the interests, not of the aristocracy, but of the trading classes. They were business undertakings, and it was the standing marvel of the eighteenth century that the more England fought the richer she bocame, and that if her debt increased fast her ability to bear it increased yet faster, And if you ask what we have got or our 800 millions of debt incurred in these wars, the answer is very simple. We have got Canada, and South Africa, and Australia, and India, and a world-wide commerce such as has never before been seen." Lord Randolph Churchill has returned from India, looking bronzed and weli. Last night the noble lord occupied his old familiar corner seat just below the Opposition gangway. On his entry into the House he was received with a fairly respectable cheer. We shall be glad to have him back, for English politics have been terribly dull during his absence.

The Suez Canal. A story reaches us from Paris which shows how utterly futile were the hopes of those who anticipated that the Suez Canal Commission would confine its labours within the limits laid down by Lord Granville's famous circular. At the first sitting of the ; commission the French delegates produced a scheme for the regulation of the Canal, which the "Times" correspondent deacribes as "including a very complex system of rules, interfering in many cases with the interior affairs of the Canal, full of puzzles and ambiguities of all kinds." The same authority goes on to say that — "It is evident from the very nature of the situation that the English scheme is diametrically opposed to the French. England wants the canal to be free without the intervention of anybody. She wants the canal to be managed by a free company without any external control, whereas France desires a complicated regulation implying also a control over Egypt. This would obviously result, not in the neutralisation of Egypt, but in multiplied intervention of Egypt. It would not be an Egypt belonging to nobody, but an Egypt belonging to everybody, England being thus evicted, and her single will drowned in manifold wills."

North Queensland as a Crown Colony. A correspondence has just taken place between Mr C. S. Salmon, formerly President of St. Nevis, and Mr Westgarth, through the medium of Mr Chosson, Secretary of the Aborigines' Protection Society, on the question of forming Northern Queensland into a Crown colony, so that Coolie labour could be obtained by the planters u nder the supervision o f the Im perial Go vet nment. Mr Westgarth considers this step necessary for the commercial progress and prosperity of Northern Queensland ; while Mr Salmon strongly opposes the idea of spoiling a "free continent" by the introduction of a servile class merely for the purpose of making a " snug place for planters."

Marriage with Deceased Wife's Sister. A memorial, signed by nearly threefourths of the members of the City of London Corporation, has been addressed to her Majesty's Ministers, urging the repeal of the law prohibiting marriage with the deceased wife's sister. The memorialists— among whom are the Lord Mayor, the ex-Lord Mayor, the two Sheriffs, the Recorder, the City Chamberlain, and 20 of the 29 deputies, say : " The prohibition of such marriages has been repeatedly condemned by large majorities in the House of Commons ; it has become a part of our jurisprudence through a doubtful interpretation of Scripture ; it is habitually infringed, without loss of respect, by persons of admitted virtue, who do not believe that they are acting at variance with religion or morality ; and a law which, like this, fails to secure the general assent of the community ought, in our opinion, to be abolished. We, therefore, urgently appeal to Her Majesty's responsible advisers to take such steps as may be needful to carry the desired reform into effect/. "