THE PANAMA MAIL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 141, 24 October 1868, Page 3

THE PANAMA MAIL.

The following general summary of European news ia from the correspondence of the Panama Star and Herald. It is dated Southampton, Sept. 3 .-— Parliament will be dissolved upon the 9th of November. The general election will be completed before the end of the month, and tbe Reformed Houße of Commons will no doubt meet in the second week of December — a few days will necessarily be occupied with the swearing in of members*, but the discussion upon the address will commence quite soon enough to allow formal expression to be given before Chtisuuas to tliat decision of the country which tha election returns will have already established beyond any doubt. The Government brings the question between it and the Opposition to au issue at the earliest possible day. If the country pronounces in favour of Mr Gladstone and the overthrow of the Iriah Church, it will at once surrender offico to tbe Opposition leader. A report has appeared in the Gazette de .France, that the Queen's repose at Lucerne had been violated by a political fanatic. The story is without foundation, and has been formally contradicted. It originated in tbe fact of a man named harles William Wood having endeavoured to enter the apartments occupied by Her Majesty. He waa arrested, and being found to be insane, was taken to Berne, and hauded over by the police to tbe British Legation, in order to be sent borne to England. Her Majesty with the junior members of the Koysl family and their attendant suitea will arrive in England on the llth Sept. The Royal yacht Victoria and Albert will proceed to Cherbourg, and be ready to embark the Royal party on the morning of that day. The Queen and Roya] family will proceed to Windsor. Of the trip to Scotland nothing i 3 yet definitely known. It ia believed, however, that the Queen will leave Windsor about Friday, the 25th of Sept. for j Balmoral. The Queen has, through the Engish Minister at Berne, expressed her thanks to the Federal Council for tbe cordial reception she has met with in Switzerland. j The Prince and Piincess of Wales, after a short sojourn in Scotland, will proceed to Denmark on a visit to the parenta of the Princess; from thence their ttoyal Mighnes-es will go to Sweden, and it is believed, before returning to Kngland that the Prince and Princess will pay a v;_if to the King aud Queen of Greece at Athens. The betrothal of the King of Bavaria with the Russian Grand Duchess Marie, h regarded as certain.

Lord Mayo has announced to his supporters at Cockermouth that he had accepted, after due consideration, tbe Governor-Generalship of India. His brother the Hon. Henry Bourke wtH be the conservative candidate for Cockermouth. Unless the Conservatives can succeed in re-electing Alderman Allen, the present Chief Magistrate, Alderman, J. C. Lawrence, will be Lord Mayor of London for the ensuing year. Mr Andrew Fairbairn, the young Mayor of Leeds, is to receive the honourof Knighthood Ihe compliment is an acknowledgment of the hearty reception given to the Prince of Wales in May, when Mis Royal Highness opened the Leeds Art Kxhibition. The Mayor's father was knighted in 1858, on the occasion of the Queen opening the magnificent Town Hall. For the first time for many years past, Gibraltar has been visited by an earthquake Two shocks were felt on the 18th of August, at many different poiuts in the town and south. Some people assert that they saw the walls of houses shaking, othera had their glasses and crockery thrown down from shelves and broken, while by many the strange rumbling noise was mistaken for the explosion of some distant magazine — no damage or loss of life ia reported. The jury ha 3 discharged Madame Rachel's case withouta verdict. The consequenceis that the case is in j ust the samo position as though no trial whatever had taken place, and it is understood to be the intention of the prosecution to have a second trial at the next session of the Central Criminal Court, which commences on fche 21sfc September, and it will be placed on the list for trial on the first dny of the session. A ielegram dated Calcutta, August Ist, gays the Government inspection shows that the crops over a large extent of country have been totally destroyed by floods. Accounta from the indigo districts represent the prospects of the crop as better, although a moderate crop only is expected. It is sUted that Sir Archibald Grant leaves India in October. A fearful tempest swept over Liverpool and the south-west coast of Kngland, on the 22nd August. Some fearful shipwrecks and loss of life are reported. Much damage was also done inland. A great fire has occurred at Mitcham--dam iges are estimated at from £40,000. Three publications have just appeared in Paris, devoted to what now more than ever, Beema to be recognised as the great question of the day. In "NoB Frontieres dv Khin," M. Charles Vuller maintains that with half the blood and money expended in the Crimean, Italian, and Mexican wars, France could have recovered the boundary of the Rhine ; in which case, instead of an army lof 800,000 men she would need one of 400,000 only. "I he more the work of German unification becomes consolidated, the more " he says, " our relative power will be ! diminished. The more we temporie, the ! more the danger will increase. Finally, the longer we delay finishing this state of things, the more difficuUwe ahail fiod it to free ourselves from it.'>*Gn a pamphlet c-illed " Congrd3 ou Guerre," we find the same argument. . — " Le Rhin e|est la paix," is the title of a pamphlet in which the author by a similar ; train of reasoning concludes that for Europe to enjoy the certaiuty of peace, it is essential that France should possess a frontier on the east, which shall not be exposed like the present one to the attacks of Prussia. Prussia at the moment holds a whole line of fortresses, whioh like Luxemburg, are a standing' menace to France, and which like Luxemburg, never passed absolutely into Prussian hands with the consent of Europe^) The Emperor, on the occasion of his fete i day, granted commutations of punishment to : 938 soldiers in the military prisons, and to 1553 convicts in penitentiaries and other coirectional establishments. In consequence of a report made by the Committee on Fortifications, the Emperor has raised three foi ta now in course of construction at Metz, to the first rank among i places of war. The forts which are detached works, are those of St Quentin of the Carcheres, of St Julien and of Quenlen. For two or three days at the close of last week, a sinister rnmour obtained currency in Paris respecting the health of the Emperor. At length on becoming a prominent topic of conversation at the Bourse, it called forth a formal contradiction on the part of a semi-official journal, which declares that nothing could he more untrue, and that the health of his Majesty was all that could be desired. This rumour being shelved, a whole crop of othera baa since sprung up. Sweeping ministerial changes are spoken of. Holland and Belgium are to be wheedled by M. De La Gueronniere, the new Minister of Brussels, into au alliance with France ; troops are to be ordered to the fronMer, and fortresses are to be manned and armed. In short the aeason for canards has completely set in; as rapidly as one ia disposed of another succeeds. A Florence telegram announces that Garibaldi has resigned his seat as a member of the Italian Parliament, The Emperor is to viait the camp at Chalona on the 3rd. On the 20th Aug , his Majesty reviewed the troops stationed at Fontainebleau. It is thought thafc the extent to which the press prosecutions have been carried is not pleasing to the Emperor, and that it is not unlikely that some zealous officials may feel the effect of the Imperial displeasure. Prince Napoleon ia on a yachting excursion in the North of Europe. The Queen of Spain ia aaid to have offered General Pezuela tbe Presidency of a New Cabinet, but that General demanded the dismissal of Marfori the Intendant of the palace to which her Majesty would not accede. Negoeiations undertaken hy the Finance Minister to contract a loan under guarantee of the customs receipts of Morocco, belonging to Spain as war indemnity, are understood to have been unsuccessful.

The news that the Captains General of Madrid and Barcelona had tendered their resignation in consequence of recent events is confirmed. It is also confirmed that the Minister of war has resigned his post. Late intelligence reports the appearance of several insurgent bands in the mountains of Toledo. With the country in such a state we ennnot be surprised at thia. A more serious fact is the discovery of a secret depot of powder and ammunition in the province of Alicante.