European News to 26th June.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 5, Issue 251, 5 September 1861, Page 3

European News to 26th June.

(From our own Correspondent )' London, June; 1861. My last letter intimated a belief that woshould liave.no- fiiriher political complications : here, and that our Cabinet, had a reasonable prospect of smooth water before them for the rest .of the present session of Parliament. "So indeed it seemed, but one of those entirely uu- . fore-eon events, which sometimes occur to disturb the best laid plans, of “ mice and men,’ r •lid, towards the end of last, month seriously trouble the halcyon serenity on which we all

were counting, and dashed the predictions of; many an “own correspondent.” Not that the ultimate result has been at ail different from what / confidently affirmed it "would be; but still we have had a narrow escape from'a minFterial deft at, a dissolution of Parliament, and all the worry, turmoil, and expence ;of a general election. . .. ' The ministerial Budget had passed what , was generally considered to 'he the most critical stage in its progress through’ the Commons, but Mr. Disraeli's efforts to delay' it. inorder to allow time to turn up some chance iu

ins favour, were successful. He eagerly looked for some political accident', some financial . hitch,'some sudden contretemps to damage".the calculations of the' Chancellor of the Zsxchequer, and throw di.-credit' o'n l'iis Budget. Ati fast the hoped for event occur:o'lj th mgh in & most unexpected q.vast-or. I don’t know . whether your readers ere generally aware'of the circumstances, attending what is known as , theGalway Z’acket Cent. art. Not to make too long a story of it, I may mention, that" , three years ago, the Derby (7oy«rnmcnt being in. power and naturally anxious to strengthen , themselves, by as much popularity and.. as many votes as possible, some pressure being [ exercised by their Irish partisans, granted a , subsidy of-£78,000 per a inum to a Company; . I formed to 'run a li;:o of steam packets between • Galway and America, the grant being for the ! mails fortnightly., The company, thus at the . outset, the cieature <■{ a 'political joh, wa.s;in its- . after management singularly unfortunate, /is , whole.career, up to this date has been a .series of errors, misfuriu ;es, an ! disasters. From, th.e very first it proved unable to-carry out it* contract to ,carry the mails, ami was obliged . again and again to ask the indulgence of the 5 Post master 'General, which indulgence .was again and again granted. But when it turned . out. a few months ago that th.e Company had, . . only one steamer fit to cross the Atlantic.with. ... the mail?, the whole thing got quite beyond bearing,'an'd the Postmaster General carceiied j the contract. . This step, though long antici- ,

paled by business men here, who from .the. first regarded the scheme wish suspicion, created great excitement in Ire’and, and the Irish: members of Parliament, several of whom.wereshareholders, swelled the chorus of indignation and discontent. These latter, encouraged by their constituents, declared that they would combine to vote against the Government-which, withheld the subsidy, irrespective of all p.oli-, deal considerations. Now this was exactly what the Conservative opposition’wanted.. The division on the Budget previously had,shown so narrow a majority for the Cabinet, that it was hoped a dozen recusant- /risli members would turn the scale, and throw the Government into a minority. Besides, the decision of the Government on this question of the contract was specially offensive io Mr. Disraeli, as lie it was who had originally granted and signed it, and a cm tain show of real indignation at the spoiling of his favourite Transat-

lantic packet schema, nr’glit help to carryiff . that which was merely s mulated ’for the purpose of overthrowing his political rivals.,, Accordingly he at onco made it known, that.howould suppoit thw reHorrttion of the subsidy, and there is ao d< ula tiut had the whole of his party joined i im in Jhs opposition the ministry, would have Men defeated. Hut when the amendment was moved' by Mr. ICerr Sey- ' ■mer, one of the members for Dorset,, its fac- .. tious character was at once evident, and a revulsion of feeling took prince. At, the end of a very exciting debate the division was taken, and greatly" to the surprise of most calculators,' the ministry had a majority of The ex-„. . , planation of this.is, simply, 'that many of the . more honourable Conservative members shrunk;, from the factious duly of a nibbling with uu 7 principled'deserters.from the Ministerial ranks,, and walked out of the house without voting at all. 'I bis was the last amendment fnoveu on. the question of the Budget, which consequently . remained safe. . ~ Leaving .questions of sentiment,and,im:final feeling out of sight, ; aiid treating thl Galway

*ul>suly purely ou its merits as a matter' of ■ mercantile; bargain, the contract was from the first indefensible, and its abrogation became latterly inevitable. The simple reply to the advocates of the company, who claimed that the grant should he continued, is, that the company did not perform the service for which alone the subsidy was payable. They were to have carried the mails fortnightly for the sum of ,£3OOO per voyage. At the end of more than a year from the date of the concession they had not provided themselves with steamers of the character and capacity required by law. Out of forty-six voyages due within the period of the contract, only seventeen were actually performed, and in only three was the voyage completed within t life contract time. To call this a mail service tfasra perfect farce. In more than one instance, letters were despatched to Galway by the Post Office autborit'es for the steamer, when it proved that there was really no steamer fit to go the voyage ; the letters were consequently brought back to

Londoa, and bad to be sent by the next Cunard steamer 1 This condition of risk and uncertainty became naturally intolerable, and long before the contract was cancelled by Government, the oompany had lost all credit with business men her*;. It was liable to penalties without number for non-performance of its engagements, and lmd all these penalties been levied it would have been ruined twice over; but it was literally forgiven much, and to this •lone is it owing that even any of its original capital now remains. In fact, the defence of the company by its principal advocates in the house of Commons is entirely of an apologetic character, being summed up in the very convenient formula —we are not so much worse than onr neighbours. Be this as it may, its history has been, as I before said, a tissue if mishaps, makeshift?, and struggles acabist impending insolvency, and the withdrawal of the subsidy has brought matters to a long-antici-patel crisis. Its standing iu the comma: cial world may be guessed from this one circumstance. Even before the withdrawal of the Government subsidy its shares, on which J 220 was paid, were quoted at £2 in the Dublin share market—ln other words, at 90 per cent, discount. They are now absolutely unsaleable. In the London market they have always been so. It is notorious here that the last balance sheet presented to the unfortunate shareholders showed something as near insol-

vency as can well be imagined, but for all that desperate efforts are being made to recover the cancelled subsidy. The excitement in Ireland on the subject, though not effectual in placing the {joverninent in a minority on the question of the Budget, resulted in a motion being made in the house by Mr. Gregory, the member for Gahvay, for a select committee to take evidence on the subject. To this the

Ministry consented, and at this stage the matter now remains. If the committee provo to be an entirely impartial one, there can be little doubt that the result will be to confirm the action of the Government, and. so give the coup de grace to the unfortunate company. The episode of the Galway contract has

leeu the principal question of any novelty withiu the last month. Nuw that the session is so far advanced it is tacitly admitted that the ministiy are safe for this year, no vital or testing question remaining for debate. The opposition to the Budget in the Lords was

eonGned to rat In r a. sulky protest from Lord Derby and other Conservative peers, who v while they disliked it, thought it dangerous to repeat the movement of last year. / believe that Lord Derby is also by no means covetous of power at present, and was disposed to discourage any attempts to overthrow the existing government. T 1 e truth is, among the 2’ory party iu the Commons there is a strong feeling of distrust and aversion to 3Vlr. Disraeli at present. This feeling has been long latent and lias only been kept in check by the necessities of tk> ir position,for know betu r>' than the worthy country gentlemen tbat,wanting the member for Bucks, the country party wanla both brain and tongue. But during this session many symptoms of insubordination have been shewn, ami Mr. Disraeli'has himself betrayed some consciousness of this in the tone of some of his late speeches, which has been singularly petulant, bitter and defiant, contrasting greatly with the conciliatory and deferential style it once suited him to assume. With this additional element of weakness in his party, it may readily be supposed that Lord Derby felt that no excessive regret that events were not particularly propitious for bis assuming office. The principal sul jects of discussion in the Commons besides the Budget have been the Army and Navy Estimate* and the bill for appropriating the four seats rendered vacant vacant by the disfranchisement of /Sudbury and St. Albans. The proposal of the ministry on the latter question was to give the four seats to Birkenhead, Chelsea, .South Lancashire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the proportion of ore seat to each. They have already been defeated in the proposal to confer a member on Chelsea and Kensington,

and a host of amendments still remain to be considered on the other points. .Several of the Irish members claim a seat for Cork county. Sir James Graham makes a claim for London University, and Mr. Stirling, the menjbe* fo? Perthshire 1 , is to propose that one of the seats be given to the Scotch Universi aities. The discussions on this bill hitherto have been chararacterised by the greatest irregularity and coufusiou ; each member advowee* bij.own district or country, but is ready to coujjfiue with any body of members against every other locality named. Thus t ie /ii*U 4 members advocate /ash counties oi boroughs, and the /Scotch, those connected with Scotland, but both combine agaiust giv iag th# tepreiisntatlYW to Dngliimi. I tbiat

it very possible that in the general scramble Mr. 6’tirling may carry his proposal to give a member to the Ecotish Universities, whose claim is so strong ou every ground of justice and common sense, that nothing else but the inevitable habit of regarding everything from a purely Euglish point of view could have caused our leading politicians to ignore it till now.

It would appear from what passed in the house on the 31st May, that Sir George Grey, who has been gazetted as “ Administrator of jVew Zealand,” will be left to settle as thoroughly as possible all matters relating to the government of your Maori population. In foreign affairs the most important event which has occurred since the date of my last letter, is the death of Count Cavour, the great Sardinian statesman. The event created a deep and painful sensation here, where a feeling of admiration of his patriotism ami ability was very widespread. The journals were all filled with long nutices of the deceased statesman’s career, most of which were highly eulogistic and some strikingly eloquent. Suitable allusions were also made in both houses of

Parliament by leading men of all parties, the only exceptions being, in the house of Lords, the young A/arquis of Bath, who ventilated some aristocratic silliness on the (Occasion, saying that Cavour had violated all law, both ihumau and divine and in the Commons an Irish member, the G’Donoghue, whose ultramontane bigotry led him to assert, that lie saw the finger of God in the death of so determined an enemy of the Holy See. For the credit of an assembly of .English gentlemen, it must be added, that these painful exhibitions of stupidity and partisanship were universally reprobated, the O’Donogh ue’s phut harangue, especially, being received with most unwonted sounds in such a place as the house of Commons—namely, hisses and groans. In Italy the grief and dismay caused by the intelligence form the best measure of the esteem and affection entertained for the man. The lt&[iaus were proud of his splendid abilities—-proud, too, to think that he was almost the only man qualified to coj e with Louis Napoleon—and tney never doubted his intense patriotism Aud single-minded devotedness to the interests of Itaiy. As he lay dying iu his house at Turin, an immense crowd filled the streets, and when »be procession bearing the last sacraments was seen approaching, a great cry of anguish broke from tt'e multitude. The first feeling throughout Piedmont, on the news of his death, was one of absolute stupefaction, though soon followed by one nobler and manlier* His obsequies were celebrated with almost regal pomp, and even at Paris a dirge was sung in the

church of the Madeleine, which was attended by the Emperor’s chief ministers of state, and by his half-brother Count de Morny. Some strange things have been said about Count Cavour’s iiiuess, and here it is believed that a very ordinary exertion of medical skill would have preserved his valuable life. He was of a full habit of body, and was too fond of excessive mental labour, to the entire neglect of physical exercise, liis physicians appear to have formed a different diagnosis of his complaint each day that his illness lusted one day terming it uppoplexy, another tertian fever, another dropsy, another gout; and for all these various diseases they had only one remedy—namely, bleeding l It sounds strange that so barbarous a mode of treatment should be prevalent in any country of Europe in this the nineteenth century ; but it is the fact, nevertheless, that tiiroughout Italy the lancet is still the grand panacea. Our journals, in

.renting the question, say, that if sucu a tiling had occurred iu England the surgeons would have been charged with manslaughter. One important event has followed close Oil the death of Cavour. Tim 1' reach Emperor lias at length recognised the kingdom of Italy, and will send back his ambassador to lIU » receiving one from Victor Emmanuel, lhere is no doubt that all the other European powers, excepting perhaps Austria, will take heart ol grace, and follow his example. All the usurps ations and aggressions on the part of Sardinia within, the last two years will thus be stamped with approval, and acknowledged as accomplished facts which it is too late now to ques. tioa. The sovereignty of the popular will, and the right of the Italians to choose any form of government they please, being thus admitted, it is difficult to see how Home can he left much longer in the possession cf the Pope, for it is well known that when left to themselves the /iomaus will declare immediately for annexation to Sardinia. The civil war in the United States does not

make much progress* though it may be said to have commenced, and blood has been shed on both sides. 7’lie Government troops, to the number of about 70,000, are gradually closing ' in on Virginia, which will have to bear the brunt of war for several months* as no great movements farther south will be attempted till tiie heats of summer are past. Meauwhile, no abatement of the hostile feelings on either side can be remarked'; the conflagration is evidently spreading, and the newspapers in the 'States are blowing the coals to the best of their " ability. These hitter, as if a war in the States ; were not quite enough to keep their hands full, are labouring to excite a feeling of anger ( against Great Britain, on the ground that > Great Britain, by declaring for neutrality, does in fact aid and abet the revolted States, by i conceding to them equal rights as belligerents L with the Supreme Government from which they • have rebelled. To the distempered vision oi ; Yankees, clouded by passion ami wounded selfi conceit, Great Britain appears in the guise of a * power secretly rejoicing at their humiliation, r and anxious to see a severance of the Union 1 that she may be left in undisputed supremacy - on the seas. This peculiar faculty of tin j American mind distorts and exaggerates out

most innocent j ant } na tural actions, so that we are quite prepared to find a- quarrel fastened on us whether we will or no. Fortunately, however, our blustering friends have met with a rebuff in a way which must have appeared to them a particularly unkind cut. Their representative to the Russian court, a Mr. Cassius Clay, on his way to St. Petersburg, addressed a public meeting of Americans in Paris, in the course of which he used very violent and indeed insulting towards this country, contrasting our conduct with that of France, and going out of his way to make an appeal to French prejudice and animosity, by declaring that France had not forgotteu Waterloo, with a good deal more stuff of the same quality. All the notice that France, thus apostrophized, condescends to take of this harangue, is, that the Government of the Emperor soon afterwards issues a proclamation of neutrality, couchgd in language nearly identical with ours, find taking exactly the same ground. effect this would produce on the other side |he Atlantic we do not yet know, but may trust it will be a beneficial one. There have been also'sundry other indications of the prob able course of French policy, iu the event of the Confederate States working out their inde pemlence, which cannot but prove galling to American sensibilities, after the amount of fulsome flattery lavished by them on the French nation, and consequent disparagement of the British. For instance, the official Moniteur, a few days ago, gave prominence to an article on the recognition of the kingdom of Italy, in which a sort of parallel was drawn between the Italian States and the revolted American States, and an inference pretty plainly hinted as to the prospects of the latter some day claiming a like recognition. Such a little straw us this, as indicative of the wind that blows from the Tuilleries, wifi do more to encourage the Southerns, than would the capture of Washington with the President to boot. The troubles in Aflierica still produce a most injurious effect on trade here and in France. Our exports to the States have fallen off most seriously, the only article that has in creased being gold. T’hus business is dull and the money market dear, the only thing that keeps it from rising still more rapidly being the contraction of all mercantile engagements to the narrowest possible limit. There is, however, one bright spot in an otherwise cheerless prospect, and that is the highly favourable weather. @ur harvest prospects are at present excellent, all kinds of crops having made immense progress within the last month. Geniai rain and glowing sunshine have followed each other with such delightful timeliness, that the whole face of the country smiles with plenty and is bright with promise. As a consequence even the British farmer is in good spirits, and the genius of grumbling, as ashamed, hides its face. The markets are all falling, and provisions may now be termed cheap. To show the contrast between this year and last, it may suffice to say, that we have had more heat and sunshine in this one month of June, thar> we had during the whole of last summer from June to October inclusive. It is of course too soon to indulge iu confident anticipations as to the harvest, for a wet autumn may yet spoil all, but I think we may hope for the best. Among the incidents of the London season this year, let me mention two, widely different m character, but both worth noting. One is, the series of religious meetings for the upper classes, held in JTillis’s rooms, St. James’s, addressed by laymen, who, strange to tell, are chiefly military men. The meetings are very largely attended by ladies of the aristocracy, and the remarkable display of equipages in the street sufficiently shows the distinguished character of the audience. The services on each occasion are conducted by one layman, who is generally a man of high social position. Among those who have led hither/o are Capt. Trotter, formerly of the Guards, and Capt. Blackwood, formerly ®f the Artillery: Prayer and exposition of the Scriptures constitute the chief part of the service; the latter consists generally of very simple and even commonplace remarks on some passage, hut they seem t® be listened to with attention and relished. 7t is believed that by these services some good has been done among a class not much given to hearing practical and impressive preaching anywhere else. The movement is one of these that have sprung from the revival excitement of the last two yeais—an excitement that with many drawbacks, has yet

worked on the whole for good. The other incident has been the feats of the Canadian acrobat, Biondin, at the Crystal Palace. The exploits of this man are so astounding as to raise him beyond the category of ordinary rope-daneers. Ho is the same Biondin who last year crossed the Falls of Niagara on a tightrope, and all those feats he has repeated here on a rope at an elevation of nearly 200 feet from the ground.. I cannot detail tnein to you here. Suffice it to sty, | that on his first exhibition some ladies fainted, ja\d that his last exploit—namely, wheeling his little daughter, a girl seven years of age, along the rope in a wheel-harrow —has been 'prohibited by the Home Secretary, and will not he repeated. Bnt we may well ask, after witnessing his astonishing nerve and skill, etti bono i Is it fitted to raise the character of society here, or to elevate the popular taste, any more than a prize fight or a sack race ? It is a sad falling ofi from the high aims proposed by the Crystal Palace Company to find them tempting all London, fashionable and ? plebian, to this enchanting retreat, to see an agile and cool-headed Frenchman stand on his t head on a rope, or cling by one foot to it* sus- , pended ia mid air, over the very spot where , vast audiences have listened to the appeals of < Mr. Spurgeon, and still vaster have listened } entranced to the sublime choruses of Handel, rj The more settled aspect of afiairs ojj tlw

continent for the time has done good to the wool-markets,, continental buyers having come into it more freely, in consequence of which prices for all good sorts were maintained at the range of the former sales at those which closed on the 6th. This i 9 the more remarkable on account of the dullness of the home trade. The worsted spinners are complaining especially, ami the long home combing wools have fallen 3d to 4d per lb. The gooif harvest which may be looked for, will no doubt have a favourable influence on the woollen, as well as other manufactures.

Our obituary again includes several notabilities. First comes the Sultan of Turkey, who died yesterday morning, the 25th. He has beeu ailing for some time, and there have been all sorts of reports as to his illness, but the cause most probably was an utter exhaustion of the vital stamina, the result of longcontinued and enervating indulgence. He was only in his 38th year. His death has occurred at a most critical stage in the history of Turkey and the Turks, and will probably accelerate important movements, though whether these will tend to the regeneration of the empire, or only hasten its decadence, it is impossible as yet to say. He is succeeded by his brother //hdul /tziz, who is thirty-oue years of age. This prince gets the credit of energy and resolute will, but also of strong bigotry and intolerance. He thereby contrasts very strongly with his mild and effeminate brother, but it is difficult to believe that the change can be for the worse so far as Turkey is concerned, and a ruler who shows something like purpose and determination will at all events do more to reanimate a sinking cause than the used up voluptuary whom be has succeeded.

The next death worth noting is that of Lord Chancellor Campbell, who may be said to nave died in harness. He was trying causes all Saturday, received a party of friends at dinner the same day apparently in perfect health, and was found dead in his room by his valet on Sunday morning. He was eighty two years of age—a long life, and one into which an immense amount of work was compressed. He is an eminent instance of the brilliant success attending well sustained and honest industry.. Lord Campbell owed all his success to downright steadiness and hard work. By perseverance he obtained the same results as a man of genius would have done by bounds, and if his pace was slower, it was very sure, and the goal reached was just as elevated. “Plain John Campbell/' as he delighted to term himself, the son of the Scotch parish minister, reaching the highest honours of his profession, should be the object of emulation, not of envy. Fortune, or accident, did nothing for him; ■ with his own right arm and strong heart he fought bis way to greatness. Lord Abinger, the brother-in-law of Lord Campbell, and son of the late eminent judge, also died on Monday the 24tb. We in the metropolis have been visited by a fire of an extent and violence unparalleled since the great fire of London two centuries ago. It broke out in a pile of immense warehouses known as Cotton’s Wharf, at the South side of London Bridge, and raged from six o'clock on the evening of Saturday the 22nd for many hours with tremendous fury. ludeed, it can scarcely be said to have ceased even now, four days after it commenced. Three large warehouses have been burnt, with all their contents, consisting chiefly of valuable ‘articles, such as tallow, cotton, jute, saltpetre, sago, rice, lack dies, silk, &c. The loss is estimated at fully two millions sterling, but every day it is becoming greater, as there are large cellars under the warehouses stored with tallow and other very combustible articles, where the fire is still smouldering. During the whole of Saturday night the fire presented a magnificent and awful spectacle. From the summit of one of the Kent hills, many miles away, I saw it about dusk vomiting forth flame and smoke like a volcano, and the sky was reddened by the lurid glare up to the zenith. C/nfortunately several lives were lost, one being the able superintendent of the Fire Brigade, Mr. James Braidwood, whose death is here regarded as almost a public calamity. He was crushed under a falling mass of brickwork, while giving directions to his men. The principal fire insurance offices here are heavy losers, blit most of them, such as the Sun, Phoenix, and are well able to stand it.