OUR HOME LETTER

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 80, 21 August 1869, Page 5

OUR HOME LETTER

(From our Own Correspondent.) London, 11th June, 1869. The Irish Church Bill has passed the House of Commons by a triumphant majority. The report of the Committee was brought up on the 13th May, after which the House adjourned for the Whitsuntide holidays, reassembling on the 27fch. The third fading of the Bill took place on the ■j^ib May. Mr. Holt' moved, its direct rejection, ancl was se<?on<le<i by Lord Elcho. Mr. Cardwell followed on the Government side, and then several minor lights illuminated the debate, till at last Mr. Disraeli took up the subject, and was fully replied to by Mr. Gladstone. The division then took place, and the third reading was carried by a majority of 114 (361 to 247). Great anxiety is now manifested to know what the fate of the Bill will be in the House of Lords. It was read a first time on the Ist inst., and will be read a second time, if the opposition be not too strong, on the 14th. The Ea,rl of Harrowby has anuouneed that on the order of the day for the second reading he will move its rejection, and he will be supported in this by many of the Conservative Peers, but not by all, as divided councils seem to prevail. It is much to be hoped that the Peers will not act rashly in the matter, as the effect would be to place the two Houses in collision, which would, at the least, be undignified, and might tend to lower the influence which the Upper House now exercises. Of course the other Parliamentary work seems tame after the great conflict, and although many useful measures are in progress, they do not attract the attention which they would cLo at any other time. One BiJl that has long been wanted, — a new Bankruptcy Bill, — is in Committee, and every clause is being most carefully considered, not at all in the way of opposition, but to endeavour to remedy any latent defect. A discussion, for instance, took place as to allowing a bankrupt to obtain his discharge on payment of ten shillings in the pound, it being sought to make it twenty; but eventually the clause was unaltered. One important alteration has, however, been made, — three years being substituted for five as the period after which a bankrupt may be called on to pay the dividend which will obtain his discharge. The House of Lords are engaged with a Bill for creating life Peerages, to enable men of science or of eminence in any way, who do not care to burden their families with a peerage, to become members of the House, and so add freshness and lustre to the debates. The Bill provides that there shall never be more than twenty-eight life peers ; the original proposal was that four should be elected each year until that number was attained, but in Committee that number has been reduced to two yearly, as it was thought that too much power would thereby be placed in the hands of the Prime Minister for the time being. A select committee of the House of Commons has been appointed to consider the great excess of the cost of the Abyssinian war over the estimates, the cost as now ascertained being nine millions instead of five millions. Some bad news has just reached us from that country. An English gentleman went out there with his wife, son, and servant on a hunting expedition, and was afterwards joined by two missionaries. In search of better sport than what he supposed could be obtained round the somewhat settled station of Massowah, he penetrated with his party further into the interior, and unfortunately encountering some barbarous tribes, the whole of the party have been killed. The emigration movement is developing itself- extensively. About 240 unemployed workmen from the East End of London' started on the 13th May as emigrants for Canada. On the 3rd inst a very numerouslyattended deputation waited on the Home Secretary, and afterwards on the Colonial Secretary, to urge on Government the great necessity which existed for national help being given in aid of the movement. They were of course told that it was a subject which would require very careful consideration on the part of the> Government, but this consideration will be given. The Mayor of Cork, Mr. Daniel O'Sullivan, fulfilled his promise he had given and placed, his resignation in the hands of the Town Clerk, . The election of a new mayor took place on the 21st May. Two candidates were nominated — Mr. Alderman W. Hegarthy, a moderate Liberal, and Mr. Councillor, 'Nagle, a Nationalist. Twenty-seven members of the Town Council voted for Hegarthy, and eight for Nagle. Among Mr. Hegarthy's supporters was Mr. O'Sullivan, who spoke in a style very different from that hitherto used by him, and this,, coupled with his resignation, inflamed the populace against him to such an extent that it was feared he would suffer personal violence; but fortunately the mob contented, itself with bitter language. The proceedings thrpnghoutjWere, very, noisy and disorderly.

Oh,T;he Xs,th May, the remains, of O'ConneUwere removed from the temporary vault in which they have remained for twenty-two ye&rs to the crypt prepared for them under-

neath the Round Tower erected to his memory in G-lasnevin Cemetery. The ceremony, which was attended by upwards of 8000 persons, was entirely of a religious character. Another agrarian murder is reported from the south of Ireland. It occurred in a wild district between Tipperary and Waterford. The victim was j a respectable farmer named Whelan,* ; and his only ground of offence seems to be that he occupied a farm from which some one had been ejected a short time ago. He was attacked in the morning on Ms way home, and beaten to death by sticks and stones.

The Countess of Derwentwater has again appeared before the public. On the 12th May, after travelling express from London, she arrived at Dilston toll-gate, and took possession of a labourer's cottage almost directly in front of a pathway leading to the baronial residence which she claims. As the labourer was known to be leaving, it was supposed that she intended to stay there in spite of all obstacles. The new labourer ■ coining to occupy his cottage, the Countess was ejected, and her furniture removed into the main road. She remained here under the surveillance of the police for some hours, when she went in her carriage to Hexham, transacted business with her solicitor, and returned to the lodgings taken for her at Corbridge, to which place her furniture was removed in the evening. During the time she was at the cottage notices were forwarded to each of the tenants on the estate to pay their rents to her ladyship'a agent, or else quit the land without delay ; but of course no proceedings wez'e taken.

The Queen left London on the 14th May for Balmoral, where she arrived safely. The Prince and Princess of Wales remain in town, and just now have been enjoying the Ascot Races.

One of the great events since last mail — the event of the year — the Derby, took place on the 26fch May. The meeting seemed to be more numerously attended than ever. The Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied by the Crown Prince of Denmark, who is now on a .visit to this country, were present, with their usual attendants. A north country horse, and a great favourite, Pretender, was first j Pero 0-omez, the property of Sir Joseph Hawley was second, losing by a "short head" only; and The Drummer third. The public favourite, Belladruin, was actually the last in. The race was exceedingly well contested, and very great public interest was shown in it on account of the great fluctuations in the betting as regarded some of the leading horses. The weather was beautiful ; but on the 28th, the Oaks day— the "ladies' day" — it was about as wretched as can be imagined. The rain was incessant, with strong gusts of wind that made such an exposed piece of ground as the Epsom Race Course all but unbearable. No one seems to have been there who was not either passionately devoted to racing or was obliged to attend for some reason.

On Sunday the 6th inst., the Grand Prix de Paris was run for. This is an international prize given by the Emperor of the French, the City of Paris, and the five great railway companies of France. A French horse, Grlanem, won. The Drummer, who was third in the Derby, was second here, and Ryshworth, an English horse, third.

The Ascot Races take place on the Bth, 9th, 10th, and to-day. They were, as I mentioned before, attended by the Prince and Princess of Wales, &c, but the racing does not excite general interest.

Eacing has had another aristocratic victim in the Duke of Newcastle, who is said to be utterly ruined. It would not be surprising if before long some decided steps were taken with regard to this matter, for certainly racing now is not what it used to be, the stamina of the horses deteriorating instead of improving, from the excessive number of short races for which two-year old horses are entered. Profit is the thing now looked for, and there are symptoms that the present system will not be allowed to continue.

The list of accidents is unfortunately great this mail. On the 17th May, intelligence was received of the loss of of the Blue Jacket, Captain White, ! from New Zealand to London. She was burnt on the 9th March in lat. 50, S. ; long., 47, W. The passengers j were saved, but thirty-nine of the crew are missing. She had in gold , £63,390. The Omar Pasha, from Brisbane to London, has also been burnt at sea, the passengers and crew all being saved. ships bound to this country across -.the Atlantic have not been heard of since their departure, and the underwriters in most cases consider their loss as certain. On the evening of the 17th May, two' of the Dublin and Glasgow Steampacket Co.'s vessel's, the Marquis of Abercorn and the Lord G-ough, came inso collision not far from Belfast. The Marquis of A^bercorn was so much injured by the collision as to commence sinking at once. IFprtunately the vessel was built in watertight compartments, ( and therefore there was sufficient time to get all the , passengers safely on board the Lord (rough. On the , afternoon of the same day a railway accident occurred on the North Staffordshire Railway, at the Stoke station, a London and- NorthWestern express train passing through the station while a local train,, fortu-

nately empty, was being shunted, one of the carriages of which got off the line. Every carriage of the local train was injured in some manner, and most of the passengers in the express received some injury, but there were no cases so serious as to cause the detention of any one at Stoke. Two colliery accidents have occurred, one at a coal mine in Monmouthshire, by which seven- persons lost their lives. This accident occurred at night, but had it taken place in the day time the loss of life must have been very great. The second one occurred yesterday at the Ferndale Colliery, near Cardiff, in South Walos. Here at least seventy persons are killed, but the actual number is not yet known. This is the same pit where the explosion of November 1867 took place, when nearly 200 lives were lost. On the 28th May, a passenger train coming from Manchester to Blackburn ran into a goods train, which was standing on the same line of rails at Salford Station. The shock was so severe that six of the passengers had to leave the train and go home in cabs. At Bingley, in Yorkshire, a boiler explosion, attended with serious loss of life, has occurred. Fifteen persons have been killed and several seriously injured.

The very quiet little town of Mold, in Flintshire, North Wales, has been the scene of a great riot. There has been a colliery strike, and some of the colliers assaulted the manager of the colliery. Two of these men were arrested, and after examination before the Magistrates, were on their way under the escort of a body of police to the railway station, en route for Flint Castle, the county gaol. When the riot took place, numbers of colliers having assembled; the police with their prisoners took shelter in the telegraph office, and a detachment of the 4th regiment were sent to their assistance; but the rioters attacked the place in such a fearful manner, that it was almost gutted. Volleys of stones were discharged at the train of carriages, the telegraph office, the police, and the military, many of whom were knocked bleeding to the ground. At last, after all other efforts had failed, the soldiers were compelled to fire, and four persons were killed, which caused a rapid flight on the part of the rest.

Another prosecution of Bank directors has been in progress. Three of the directors of the English Joint Stock Bank (which succumbed to the panic) having been several times before the Lord Mayor, on the charge of defrauding the shareholders, but the evidence was not sufficient to sustain the charge against them, and the summons has accordingly been discharged. The manager, however, who was included in the summons, has been committed for trial, and there is another charge pending against him for perjury, but this case is not yet completed.

Lord Broughton died on the 3rd inst. He was better known by his former title of Sir John Cam Hobhouse, and as a friend and fellowtraveller of Lord Byron, with whom he visited Greece. He was the author of a few works, most of them of a sound, solid character.

The electoral meetings, and afterwards the elections, have been in progress in France, and are now completed. The Republicans have gained ; but the Legitimists, the Orleanists, and the Clergy, have everywhere failed. The Orleanist party is said to be extinguished, and Republic may now be j looked upon as opposed to Empire, but the Grovernment has an overwhelming majority, and is said to be satisfied with the result. In Paris the Republican candidates -have been most successful.;. not a single official candidate having been returned. Great disturbances have taken place in Paris since the result has been declared ; but it is expected that quiet will soon be restored. At various other towns there have been disturbances, which have, however, soon been quelled. The Cortes of Spain have passed the whole draught of the constitution by 214 votes against 55.' A regency is in contemplation, as there is, at present, no prospect of a King. From the tone of the debate, there seems some probability — at least in the minds of the supporters of the ex-Royal family, that the eldest son of the Queen — the Prince of Asturias, stands a good chance for the vacant throne. He is only ten years old, and, therefore, could not be entrusted with the powers of Government, for at least eight years. The Captain- General of Cuba, General Dulce, has been forced to resign in consequence of the riotous demands made by the Spanish volunteers, who have recently arrived out from the mother country. He is now on his way home, and the volunteers have placed themselves under the direction of General Espinar, who is now exercising the chief command in the island, pending the arrival of the new Commander -in -Chief, General i Caballero de Rodas. It is stated that thirteen expeditions have sailed from American ports in aid of the insurrection ; the total strength of these amounting to 5,000 men with six batteries, of artillery. We learn, byway of Washington, that the Government of Peru has recognized the insurrectionists as belligerents.

A bad piece of intelligence comes from Italy. • The • Austrian Consul at Leghorn was assassinated on the night of the 24th May, while walking with the Austrian General Crenneville,

who was also wounded. It appears that the Consul was killed by mistake for the General ; the perpetrators of the deed having all suffered an ignomonious beating by order of the General in 1849, when he was in command of the city. He was excessively cruel during his term of office, and excited such deep animosity in the city, that the Italian Grovernment warned him of his danger in again appearing there. The new American Minister, Mr. John Lothrop Motley, arrived at Liverpool on the 30th May, and on the next morning received addresses from the American and Liverpool Chambers of Commerce, immediately after which he started for London. Tbe Alabama claims are under discussion by the newspaper press of both countries, but there seems to be a quieting down of the former excitement. Mr. Greorge Peabody left here for America on the 29th May. He has for some time been in declining health, and, therefore, has felt a wish to return to his native country, probably not to visit us again. In the Canadian House of Assembly, resolutions were passed by a committee of the House, on the 9th inst., proposing the admission of Newfoundland into the dominion of Canada. The Nova Scotians are very much aggrieved at the annexation of their province to the dominion, and intend to make an appeal to the English Courts on the subject.

The Viceroy of Egypt has arrived at Vienna on his way to visit most of the Continental Courts. It is said that one of the objects of his visit, is to come to an understanding, if possible, that the Suez Canal shall be declared a neutral passage for all nations and all time.

Erom Japan an extraordinary political change is announced. Several of the most influential Daimios have tendered to the Mikado their resignation of tlieir rank, estates, sea and land

forces, for the purpose of strengthening, or rather a re-creating a central and supreme government. A great council of Daimios will soon assemble in Teddo, for the purpose of settling the new constitution of the country.