OUR LONDON LETTER.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 1451, 22 June 1876, Page 3

OUR LONDON LETTER.

[PUOil ODE OWN COBBESPONDENT.] London, May 4. Mr -Disraeli's wish — or the Queen's — has ai length been gratified, and to tho venerablf title of our Sovereign's has been tacked lh( show/ symbol of military despotism. Th( voice of an almost united Press condemnec tlie proposed change The foremost states men of the country — save only those wlic find scats i>i the Conservative Ministry — expressed their unqualified disapproval. Indig nation meetings were held m London and tlu provinces, m which sufficient intelligence and unanimity were shown by thousands of oppo nents to the Title Bill, to leave no room foi doubt what tho real feeling of the country was, and as if this was not sufficient for Ihe guidance of any statesman desirous of followingtho right path, evidence was collected, and, m the columns of the Daily News, was put before tho country showing that so far as Nativelndian opinion had found anypublicexpression on the subject, it had declared a«ainst theassumplion of the title which was to be, and now- has bd'n, assumed. The Premier with his "mechanical majority" of country squires, and phuocrats longing for Conservative distinction, was able to carry all before him. A week ago the royal assent was given to the measure, and on April 27ih— a day to be marked with a bhiek letter m the calendar of your monarchy — tho .Royal Proclamation appeared announcing the Queen's assumption of the title "Empress of India." Her Majesty has gratified her royal whim, or the plebeian whim of hor advisers, m tlio teeth of abundant proof that her subjects disapproved. It is very generally feared that her posterity will sooner or later have to pay Ihe price of this egregious piece of folly. It is not boldly said that the stability of the Constitution is directly imperilled by what bus been done ; but it is whispere.l that the strength of tho country is m the hands of uneducated masses, to whom the real utility of the throne is unappreciiible, but upon whose minds the traditions of a thousand years, if allowed to remain undisturbed, would have exercised tho strongest influence. That; which rests upon its great historic fame quito as much' as upon its real utility has been wantonly tampered with, and engrafted with on element of novelty foreign to its nntura" Imperialism has been introduced into England against the wishes of the English people. The strange and odious titlo will bo thrmst upon us m conjuction with, if. not m lieu of ; that which we have been accustomed to know; and it will need only an obstinate and vainglorious Emperor, backed as he probably will be hy spendthrift Imperial sons, to make the Crown totter under this unnecessary burden which a Conservative Ministry have with such hot rashness imposed. If bad omens were to be sought for, there is one of the worpt import to bo found m the history of the Titles Bill itself, and the conflict between what was promised during tho debates upon it, by the Ministry, and whnt has actually been performed by the proclamation. When it w»s plain to nil the world that ' Sir John Bull anol his family had set their ' hearts dnnd ngninst Imperialism, and againßt every form of word that savored of Imperialism, the Ministry found it necessary m both Houses of; Parliament to ti-yand disarm criticism by promising that their odious addition should, if it were made, be restricted as much as possible to India, and documents having reference to Indian uffairs. In short it was promised by the Government, and thut promise was acted upon m good fnil-h by their supporters, that the Imperial title when assumed should bo to tho greatest possiblo extent localised m India, and kept out of all other parts of the British Dominions. The' late' Lord. Chancellor, Lord Selborne, questioned the possibility 'of effecting such distinction by means of the Royal Proclamation, and endeavoured to obtain an addition to tho Titles Bill by way of ■' securing' tho fulGlment of the wishes of tho nountry. But he naa silenced by assurances from tlie Government' that they saw their way to all that wus desired, and would do it, by means of tho advice they would give to Her Majesty m reference to the form of the Proclamation. In the Lower House similar proposals wore met, m. the same manner. And now, what has been the' upshot ? The Proclamation provides that the titlo of. Empress shall be used " on all occasions co far as conveniently may be," save m cqriain charters, cojq missions, writs, &c., which do, not extend beyond tlie United Kingdom ! Lord Selbarne has seized the very first opportunity to brink' this glaring inconsistency under the notice of tho Government; and m a most effective speech he has extorted such explanation as it was m the power, of the Chancellor to offer. But tlie explanation amounted to no more than this,— -that m the opinion of those are responsible, for the course which has been adoptedj the wording of- the Proclamation is such as fey provide for bvcry restriction which they- plodded themselves to ensure. If this be so/if the Imperial titlo be restricted; by the words of the Proclamation, to India and Indian affairs, then the words quoted' above as to its use "on all occasions so far as; con-, veriiently may be" are mere 'misleading surplurage, and have the very unfortunate churi act eristic, of appearing very like surplurago which was designed to mislead. With regard to the styles and titles to be used m the ' colouies, it' might at first sight appear that' Imperialism was to be' thrust. 6ii nil Occasions upon every part of the British' dominions outside, the, United Kingdom, and ; (bis " was tho rendering given by Lord Sel-. borno'nnd the Attorney-General to the words . of 'the proclamation, and was tho view they ; took of the law.. But .a loophole for escapo has been suggested by the Times m a leading article from. which I quote the following words: — -" The 'proclamation has no force, exr cept under. the .Royal;. Titles 1 Act, and where thtit Act is not operative the Proclamation fails'. But no statute that .Parliament passes now-a-days is or can be made a law for a self-: governed colony, unless that colony chooses to onact it for itself. Lord Carnarvon may issue a circular ; to colonial. Governors calling their attention to the Royal Titles Act, and suggesting that they, should, briilg it under tho notice of their responsible advisers, s» that these Ministers might propose similar Acts to; their Legislatures ; but, until this is done, the Act; and the Proclamation will be:in these emanci pated colonies mere curiosities of conteinpornry statesmanship, ' *.. - * . * _••■..*. It will be a matter of interest to see whether any one of . the colonies will think it worths ■while to follow .the legislation of the Mother Country by .passing; a .Royal Titles Act of its own.". ■■ ■ .-■.-• :.;'•: -. '■..-.'. ■ -.. And now: as to the origin of the ill-omened change.: Whether the addition which has been made was conceived- m the romantic and fustian-loving breast of tho Prime Minister, or proceeded from the womanly instinct's of a more august pereonngois not certainly known, it has been very commonly rumored that the Queen herself was the real wire-puller,' and that sho desired, the Imperial title m order to eettlo for: ever a ridiculous and; pitiful,disagreement 'ns to tho order of precedence, which, at ' tho Imperial Court, should rulei the 1 relative positions of the Imperial Duchess of- Edinburgh and our' own Royal Princesses.- Whether this was fo or not. is likely long to remain a mystery .: It is -rumor which has mot, to my knowledge,' received/any color of authority ty adoption m the 'Press j but if rom mouth to mouth it has been, very widely circulatod, and I have not met with any reliable denial of its accuracy^ So general was the i belief •- that the change of title originated with the Queen, that Mr Xiovre m an after-dinnor speoch at Retford, had the hardihood to'ass'ert. that Mr Disraeli had made himself a tool for tho performance of ■ ovi counsels'which hiid already been rejected bj two of Mb predeoessors m office. The trutl of this asser.ion has been flatly denied by Mi Disraeli, who,. speaking m the name, and witl the express permission of Her Majesty, wen bo far as to say that there was not theelightes foundation for the statement that pro posals such as were described by Mr ■ Low were ever made to. any. Minister at anytime

It does not appear, however, that the suggestion did not uroceed from the Queen to Mi Disraeli, but merely that no such suzgertion wus made to'any of his predecessors, nor any pressure ever put upon any Minister to adopt such suggestion i ; i the teeth of his own eon viclions. It would bo a grcit satisfaction to j many minds if they could feel assured that I tho step which has been co rashly taken m adding a foreign and obnoxious title 10 the ancient style of our sovereigns, had neither originated m, nor been facilitated by any filth' v impulse of vanity on the pirt o£ any of the persons most nearly concerned. The one absorbing topic of the past two months having now been disposed of, I may turn to matters of a lighter and less threadbare character : and chief among these is the Prince of Wales' approaching return and welcome to this country. What he has been doing during his absence has been related with a minuteness Jand persistency that baffle all description. The illustrated papers have sketched him m every conceivable altitude, m every possible uniform, • mounted on every variety of elephant, horse, und wheeled vehicle, engaged m every kind of advonturou sports, and going through tho monotonous "ri"ht 'arf turn und left 'arf turn" of every sort of jlribby ceremonial ; mounting dee.k, leaving deck, bowing, shaking hands, eyeing nautch girls, ogling Kaatern potentates, feasting, speaking, eating, drinking, presenting colours to regiment?, being himself presented with edifying addresses, presents, and congratulatory memorials, till the pye dims and the imagination nauseates all the very suggestion of any further illustration of His Royal Highness's travels. And now he is about to return, and a thoroughly good welcome is to be given him. Tho Lord Mayor and his worthy subalterns are to be honored with a visit m the city on tho 19th of May.. There will bo a banquet at tho Guildhall, with covers laid for 500 people ; and a ball for 3000 m a pavilion which is being specially constructed for the purpose m the Guildhall yard. Tho Prince will proceed m Btate over the Ilnlborn Viaduct., down Newgate street/ Choupside, and King-street. All London will turn out of doors to see tho procession. Men, women, and children will have the breath all squeezed out of their bodies m, honor of their. Prince's safe arrival, and several persons who, whilst I write, are sitting clothed and comfortable, find m a whole skin, will pass the hours of tho Guildhall banquet and ball groanins, with broken .bones, or torturing internal ruptures, m the accident, ward of come hospital. There will be enough gas and gunpowder burnt that night to warm all tho paupers of London for lialf along winter — Enough wine drunk to Boat a big boat. Aud the following day P— Well, with the exception of a few eases of unnecessary indigestion, and of a fewfumilies robbod of their breud-wiuners, or their ma;rons, or perhaps the chubbiest little cheruaim, th# wqrld will be found to wog along nucli ns usual j and to the contemplative iherc will remain these two sources of gratileat.ion :— The Lord Mayor will have earned lis Baronetcy, or at least his Knighthood, md tho bett ; of all exemplary Princes' will lave been further secured m the happiness of lis prospective succession by a handsome iddition to that, column of champagne bottles md gold lace npqn which two of the four eg* of his throne will rest. At the Zoological Gar.'lons, a great variety >f animals — present* to the Prince — will be ixhibited as soon as they can be properly loused. Some very valuable; creatures have ieen given . by- the Prince to the Zoological Society, others will only be lent for a season, nd after, that will bo removed to Sandringmin. '■'■': Others of tho Prime's presents, not blessed nth the breath of lite, will be displayed m he India' Museum ' of South Kensington, .'he Royal Geographical Society is to give a pirdo'nt t.he Exhibition Buildings on the ociision of the collection of presents being first pened to view, and the Prince and his traelling suite will be among the guost's of the veiling. • : : ■-■■■'■'..•■'■ Things appear to be marshalling themselves n the right order to produce a ; gay aud briliant London season, m spite of the extreme .ullness with which it begun. Tho Academy Dxhibition has just been opened, and no less ban 1500 pictures have been hung this yew t Burlington Home. It is too early at preent. to say much as to their merits. General eport announces that they are quite up to he average, but one has not heard yet of any cry striking and surprising success suoh 3 that which greeted Miss Thompson's "Roll Jail," t. wo years ago. The third of the series hen ' begun, | was too late lor the Aca,emy this year, and is, consequently, coniemned to the outer darkness of one f the many Bond-street galleries, rhero .it ' may be seen at the small charge of ne shilling. A vast number of other pictures Ire also to bo seen at the same trifling cost, m arious gallories of New Bond-street. Alroady everal of t.he second-rnte pictures of last year's xhibition arc advertised as being on view,: m his manner. . The system adopted on such a urge scale with'Dore's great picture of Christ tearing the Proeloriuin is being generally, niitated. Only let it become the fashion ! to alk about ;Mri : So-and-so's picture", and' the ihillingSi will, flow m by, thousands and tens >£ thousands— numbers with which the merits >f the picture will have very little' to do. It vasso with MrHolman Hunt's very far from }lensing picture " The Shadow of the Cr6s3." Every one flocked to sse, and almost 1 every one Lbussd it when.; seen. -.',-. ■' ■• - , ; . : At, the Royal Institution's annual meeting his week, an episode of eomo interest was re:orded. Professor Tyndall m his mature age lias taken a wife. The engagement cau?s iome little surprise when it was first announced; but now the marriage itself seems. to havo passed almost out of recollection. When, however,, tho Professor came ;to nieot bis colleagues the other night, he was not fiUowed to escape till he hud been present id with a beautiful piece of plate arid a pnrso of 300 guineas. He expressed his acknowledgements (Very handsomely, but he was not going to accept a present of money without reservation as if he was a. poor man who had n.eed of it.'' So,' griiccfully' reminding the ddriqrs that ho had now acquired an incomo suDßcieiit" for his wonts, he begged, they would consider thomeelves' pledged : to : allow': him j at some luture day tq account to- them for the proper disposal of the. money part of their present. : Theatrical managers,^ and publishing firms have fhown great activity and enterprise this spring. As to the former, the greatest, adventure m tlieir line of- business ■ has been tiiej putting of Tennyson's Queen Mury upon the' stage at the : Lyceum.' The 'poemhiis been greatly a.lferod, to. adapt it to the *ta<»e, and the result' is riot encouraging. A good poem becOmes an 'insufferable- iplayi ia spite of a Miss. Batenian for ,the...h.eroirje and Henry Irving for the heroine's husband. I would call him " hero," but Phillip's ' character cannot bo tortured into 'heroism. ••. Moreover,' the part originally assi«ned to him m the poem ib curtailed in.' the. play to .one of third or even fourth-rate importance. ■;■.,- --' _At the Royal Aquarium, Westminster, the new theatre, was. opened on Easter Monday with "Jo"'; Mr'J. P. Burnett's dramatised version of Bleak -House. ■:' In the publishing world biographies have taken t.he lead bf'everything else.' The life of Lord' Palmerston had scarcely got into general circulation before the life of Lord Maeaulay (by his nephew W.. C. 0.- Trevelyn, M.P.) appeared, and completely took the wind out of its sails. The latter is the book of the season. .. The,.eritics are , loud m their praise, und wOe to the'youth who venture's to talk " Library Shop" to Ill3 "partners without hav^ ing at least a superfi"ciar knowledge of what Mr Trevelyn has had, to say about the great historian and essayist. ■"' : ' Has the Church Quarterly 1 penetrated to New Zealand yetf .If not, the booksellers should get it. It is neatly bound, excellently printed, and among the contributors are some of. the foremost men of the day. The new number has an intereatina'arid not very merciful article on "lYmiuine Fiction," m which Miss Braddon and Ooida are very properly handled;- .'•-•:■...-■.■.,■■-•■'' ' •: ; • -■.- M

Time and space would fail me to tell of the many other good things that have recently made their appearance. But there are two deserving mention, which I wi'.l briefly notice. There is a quarterly called " Mind," of which No. 11. came out m April. Thi? is a professed organ of persons engaged m tho pursuit of mental science. The contributors are men of the very highest scientific and literary attainments. The Review is edited by Professor Robertson, of London University, and amoni! the contributors to the first two numbers have beeTi Profcsor Bain, Mr Herbert Spencer, George Henry Lewis, Mark Pattison (of the ''Essays and Reviews"), James Sully, and Professor Sedgwick. Greut things are expected of this very able and timely publication. The other book to which I re ferrnd is not m general circulation, so far as I am aware, but a copy of it has been presented to the Britiah Museum, and any of your readers who is possessed of the necessary ticket can see it there on application. It is none other than a Chinese history of the Franco-Prussiau war, by those well-known authors WungTaou »nd Chang Tsung-leang. In this very remarkable iind able compilation, political spe-culation-:is mingled with records of ihcpast, and a masterly parallel is drawn between this pres.-nt c ' >ndition of Europe and that of the Celestial Empire about the. year 500 B c.

Teituka Mechanics' Institute. — The usual monthly meeting was held on Tuesday, 13th June. Present : Messrs Fililes, Lemon, Pearpoinfc, Smith, and Gray. The Librarian's report was read, mentioning 'several instances of books kept by members for rerj lengthened periods; 11130 that the first volume of Centenary Edition " Wuverly Novels " had been lost by a subscriber. .Resolved "That the Secretary communicate with all concerned, pointing out to the subscriber interested m hitter ease that he would be required to make good the last volume, providing a like copy and m similar binding." The Librarian further reported that the fencing round the Institute, now m progress, would be of little use white tho adjacent grounds of the R.M. Court were left m their present state, and it was therefore resolved that Mr Woollcombe bo addressed on the subject. Two small accounts, to vulue of £1, wevep usod for payment. The meeting then terminated with the usual vote of thanks to the Chairman. ■ Ixqtjbst. — The enquiry held by tha Coroner yestorduy concerning the deaths of Mr and Mrs Macgregor, was, alter taking a considerable quantity of evidence, adjourned for a week, to allow of Dr Maeintyrc to analyse tho contents of the stomachs. Several other witnesses have also yet to ba examined. ' POPULAR ENTERTAINMENTS. — The first of a scries of popular entertainments ut Timaru will take plitce on Monday evening next m the Mechanic's Institute. A capital programme has been arranged for the occasion, and a treat may conGdently be anticipated. ' Masonic. — The Caledonian Lodge, Timaru, '•■ will consecrate their now hull m Bank-street on 'Sx John's Day, tho 2Gth instant. All lTrcemasous will bo invited to attend, and tho Provincial Grand officers will be' present to conduct the ceremony. . At the .conclusion, of tho ceremony a ''banquet ' will bb : hold- in connection with the proceedings. For this purpose Mr Meikle, proprietor of the Grosvenor Hotel, has plared his large room at the disposal of the Oiledoniau Lodge. As the hotel will not bo opened by tho 26th, Mr Meiklo will not bo able to cuter ou the occasion. The. catering, 'there-, fore, hus been entrusted to Sir Packer, baker' and confectioner. The arrangements m connection with the whole proceedings are to be very complete. Mechanics' Institute.— The sot of sconery paiui ed by Mr Willis, of Dunedin, for the Mechanics' Institute arrived by tho Taiaroa yesterday. The work reflects great credit on the artist. Tho drop Bcene, which is said to bo a fine work of art will be m readiness for tho popular entertainment on Monday. Lak]> Jobbing m the North*— There certainly never were more barefaced or bolder robberios perpetj-ated under any Government,' or m any country (says the Thames Ad- . verliser), except the: Tammany: Ring frauds m America, than have been committed under the Native Department rule of the present! Ministry m this colon y. 'How much laud has passed.' into the hands of private individuels through the illegal and improper acts of ■officers of tho tDepn.rtine.nt it is impossible to estimate; but to this and otifer' proviuces of the North Island tho total must amount, to many hundreds of thousands : of acres. i Lithographic Stone Quarries.— The following is from the West Coast /Times of June 12: — We mentioned m yesterday's issu« thut steps were now taken whereby the valuable lithographic quarry, situato ;it Abbey Bocks, would bo pystemalicaily worked, 1 a private company; haying been formed for ;that. object., The enterprise, being a new one, nut only to We'stlarid, but 11 nli'k'e to the colonies;' is dea rv-' -ing of some further notice at our hands; 1 Some wcks ago, it will be remembered, we despatched a special correspondent to the^ southern part of the province, and having had. a favorable opportunity: of inspecting ■ the quarries, together with the conveniences' of •hiprnentand other facilities, appertaining to the place, a lengthened report on those subjects hasi already appeared, m theso.jcolumns: It will bo remembered nthat, on tho vi-it rcferre'd toj two .: or three 1 gentlemen -fram -Hokitika, likewise visited the locality wilhth" view of satisfying themselves as to the qumtity of stone, with tho probable intenti' in of purchasing an interest from Msssrs; Ar'-hur and Docherty., Within the past' few.. days';; negotiations between the parties were concluded,' and, .'.as we- have, stated, the. stcimer. Waipara, whioh : leffc here . on Wednesday.' last, took the majority of the shareholders m the: Company .agnin to the scene of operations. By this time the manager of the' Comp-.my;'- with, the qiiarryme'n; who accompanied .'him, 'will ; have been, landed, and 03 they they were;provid<'d with : every necessary appliance for opening' tho quarry, no time will be lost m commencing operations'. Tho Company .confidently cx j < pect to: get' out suflicioHt stone' to make -a;: largo ' shipment m the course ■ of :'■■ a month or two; and once tho tramway is laidand tho main body of the stone cut into, they hope to take out sufficient" to 'supply "the whole of Iho Australian and New "Zealand markets. This should be accomplished, judging'by oalcolations made by practical qttarrymen who. visited the: ground,;in the course of. three or 1 four .months. TheLcolonial market as. yet affords but little demand for lithn'r graphic stone, and: by ' commercial- reports; supplies - .are^.'.atl:; present! ' .abundant Yfot all requirements. Yet iin fche^ matter of price,- TO far' as the .colonies are concerned, there iar no .doubt ;th<n first Exportation from' Abbey. Eocks 'will have tho effect of stopping all future importation of the article from the English or foreign markets, 1 as tliey could not possibly compete. As to -the quality of .the Btone, it'liai' beeniamply- shown, 'by numerous tests mode m New Zealand and Victoria/ that it cannot . be "surpassed by the best German importations. This, together with the fact that the quarry is "practically finexlißiistible, and that the port offers excellent fac3itie3 for shipment at. a cheap rate, places the value of the enterprise beyond a question. We may therefore confidently look forward tonofonlyj the'colonial marKetbeing fully: supplied, but constant'and large. shipments beiog regularly, forwarded to. theiHotne markets.' ..:.:■: .: ' Slightly 'EtiDDLEp.—-'' lt is the fashion," says "the Intelligent: Vagrant,'' m thereto Zealand ■ Times, "• to tell 'ludicrous ' stories of the things that gentlemen do when fcheycome home with empty pockets and plenty of spirite m their stbmn'cbs. Butl donot think that! ever heard anything better than what young Fast man did at - half-past five 6' clock on Friday morning. On thnt occasion be was found m the drawing-room of his oivrihonse, standing before the glass on- ; the chimney-piece, and trying to hang his 1 overcoat up on the reflection of. His owß/nose." - "■■>''■ ■'■> ■'■ -'■"• .=m!':v/I ■ C-:.