EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1326, 23 February 1859, Page 6

EUROPEAN INTELLIGENCE.

London, December 17. The lapsed Australian Mail contract seems destine J to expire unpitied and unmourned. Instead of closing its unfortunate career with repentance, and the practical fruits thereof, and thus awakening a sentiment of relentiii" sympathy and sorrow in the minds of those who have sulfated so much from the irregularities of the service, the series of misadventures which have marked its course appear to be thickening and darkening around its last moments So long was the October mail overdue that it begun.to be rumoured in mercantile circles that we mist give up expecting it, as it was alleged that the Victoria had been seized for debt due by the European and Australian Mail Company, ibis statement, however, was happily disproved by the receipt of a telegraphic message on the 10th instant, from Corfu, annou-i----ciug the arrival of the Australian mail at Suez on the oth instant. The delay, it appears, was occasioned by the Victoria having sprung a leak near Ceylon, white the Oiieida, to which vessesl, the mails and passengers were transferred, afterwards bruke down near Aden. They were ultimately brought on by the steamer lienijal, in conj unction with the India and China Mails. The light portion of the mail was distributed uu the 15th, and the bulk is expected to reach London on the 20th instant. To enable merchants to reply to their lettersj the despatch of the mail via Marseilles has been delayed a day.

Tue London mail despatched on Saturday List consisted of over 500 boxes and bao-s of which 233 were for Victoria. . c

The alarming spread of secret societies in Ireland has attracted ihe attention of Government, and the Lord Lieutenant has issued a proclamation, warning the people against the illegality of ihose confederacies, and offering rewards for the^ detection of persons connected with them. This extraordinary step has been succeeded hy measures still more startling. Tiie manifesto has not been allowed to revnafn a dead letter, or an unmeaning menace : deeds have followed words with a terrible swiftness In my letter of the Lli.li, I briefly mentioned that 15 political arrests had been made in Skibbereen and Bantry.. Subsequent information states that the captured were nearly all youn" men ol a respectable position' in society—shop°keepefs, .clerks, and a National School teacher. They were surprised in their buds, and conveyed to Cork Gaol. They are charged with being members of the Phoenix Society ; and tho object of the conspirators is alleged to have been to promote the invasion of Ireland by American filUbusters. Evidence will be forthcoming'toconvict the prisoners of illegal drilling with firearms, pikes; and other weapons. The informer is a man named Sullivan.

There have been, within the last few days, three great meetings, at which Parliamentary Reform was the grand topic of discussion. First in order of time was Mr. Lowes', address to his constituents at Kidderminster, which has attracted a great deal of utteutioa, from its being looked upon as a declaration of the

Palmorstonian policy. If Mr. Lowe way be taken as the expounder of the ex-Premiers views on Itefurm, then it is clear that lie contemplates a mure •adjustment, rather than an extension of the franchise. Mr. Bciglifs subsequent demonstrations at Manchester and Edinburgh were, in point of attendance and enthusiasm, immensely successful, but thoir impression on the mind and impulses of the country at large is not very appreciable. Household suffrage , and the ballot are foreshadowed as the leading features of the Bill which the member for Birmingham is concocting. It is a noticeable fact, as an illustration of the marvellous rapidity and perfection of telegraphic communication, that the report of the Manchester speeches, occupying , six columns of The Times, was transmitted by the electric wires, by the agency of girls, in 2.V hours, and the whole was in type before 3 o'clock on the morning , following the meeting.

iVfr. W. H. Guernsey, the purloiner of tbo lonian despatches, who was indicted for stealing 10 pieces of paper, valued at (id., the property of the Queen, has boon acquitted by tiie jury at the Central Criminal Court. The motives of the jury in returning such a verdict are given up by the daily journals, as inscrutable.

The particulars of the trial, condemnation, appeal, and Imperial pardon of M. de Mont- ! alembert will be found in my general foreign summary. Tlio only significant change, within the last kw days, in relation to this remarkable case, consists in the desertion of the great panegyrist of England by the Times. After vindicating his cause nobly and unflinchingly, and giving utterance to sentiments, which must have been gall and wormwood, to the Imperial palate, this journal suddenly publishes an article—in Uie general opinion, as base as it is brilliant—in which the victim of despotism is rebuked fora presumed desire to invest himself with the eclat of political martyrdom. He is warned against giving way to the insolent joy of victory—of becoming; a persecutor of tht . Emperor by rejecting bis gracious pardon,— and of thereby alienating , from himself the sympathy and moral aid of free England. This abandonment of its client, without any apparent cause, has excited profound antoiiishment and regret among all classes of Englishmen. I will not trouble you with any hypothesis on the subject; my duty is merely to record the fact.

' The continued absence of the Portuguese Ambassador from his post in Paris having given rise to unpleasant surmises as to the relations of the two Governments, it lias been explained that the Viscount da Paiva has been staying in London, severely indisposed, and waiting the result of the impending debates on the Charles et Georges affair in the Portuguese Parliament. The French Legislative Chambers are to be opened on the sth of February, and some change is to be made in the salary paid to members of that body. The allowance is henceforth to be 10,000 francs per annum, irrespective of the duration of the session.

The French Budget has just been issued by M. Magne. Like several of its predecessors, it is an extremely pleasant document. It demonstrates the wisdom of the Emperoi, and the financial stability of the Empire. It speaks of an immense surplus, and takes credit for not increasing the floating debt of the country; but, strangely enough, comfortably ignores the fact that the permanent national debt has been swelling for the last ten years at the modest rrUe of about £12,000,000 per annum. Apart, however, from this ugly feature of the case, the revenue would seem to be tolerably prosperous.

Tho monthly account of the Bank of France is generally regarded as unfavourable; the large increase in the bullion, to the extent of 28,000,000 francs, and the diminution of discounts, indicating the absence of a healthy demand for money for commercial purposes. The establishment of a great Discounting Bank, with branches in the depaitments, is on the tapis. The proposed capital is to be 60,000,000 francs. The plan- is so far advanced that the statutes have been laid before the Council of State.

Another French immigrant vessel on the coast of Africa has, it is said, been overhauled by English cruisers.

A statement which appeared in the papers, to the effect that the King , of Naples was , anxious to re-establish diplomatic relations willi England, and that our Government consented only on conditions of v satisfactory regulation of amnesty, has been officially denied. The marriage, of the hereditary Prince will come off in a few days, amidst extraordinary festivities. A levy of iS.OOO men is being made 0,000 for the navy and 12,000 for the army. The church robbers of Naples remain undetected, and are likely to continue so, since they aie sheltered by the officials, who profit by their sacrilegious crimes. In the Spanish Cortes the Government liave had a stormy reception, being charged with gross election irregularities. The Belgian Chamber of Representatives have now under consideration a measure for increasing the punishment against writers in the public Press who shall be found guilty of attacks against the laws or against the constitutional authority of the King. From Berlin we learn that the costly silver epergne, of exquisite workmanship, presented by the city of Cologne to Prince and Princess Frederick William, has been mysteriously stolen. It was abstracted from the ancient Throne-room of the Royal Sohloss. The intelligence lias been telegraphed from the lonian Islands that Sir John Young, the High Commissioner, has. resigned his office. The declaration of Mr- , Gladstone that it is not the intention of the British Government to abandon the Protectorate, has produced quite a commotion among the national party ; such a determination is a blight on all their newly budding hopes. The ferment has spread among the Grsek population, far and near. The Constantinople loan Commission has commenced its labors, and had «n the 4th inst., already destroyed onerninth.of the papermoney intended to he redeemed. Namik Pasha, late Governor of Jeddah, is reported to be' seriously, compromised in tho massacre, and has been arrested by order of the English and Trench Commissioners, and conducted on board the Caradoc, to await instiuctions from the Sultan.

The last letters and telegrams from India, reporting the cordial reception everywhere given to. the Queen's proclamation, the submission of numerous talookdars.and insurgent chiefs,, and the spirited opening of the concludingcampaign are regarded as eminently satisfactory. Advices from China are equally cheering. The renewed activity of the rebel forces had rendered the Eraperor.unusuiilly compliant towards the foreigners. Lord Elgin's negotiations at Si.anghaehad prospered. The Emperor of Japan is reported to have died of cholera, the iutroiluction of which was ascribed to the visits of the foreigners. ■ is beiug fortified. Intelligence from America comes down to the 4th of December, but it comprises nothing fresh or striking. The session of Congress was

to commence on the (ill), and accordingly the President's message mny ho expected here on the 20th. The document is looked for with liiove than ordinary interest, owing to the gravity of the questions [lending with vegurd to Mexico and Nicaragua;; Some;.band;; of (;]);_ busters, masked as emigrants,' have been refused clearing-tickets, but it is believed they will proceed without them, many it is thought have already got away. A revision of the" tnriif so as to augment its proceeds, is anticipated! A gentleman named Edward J. Dioltcns, formerly an attache of iho London Press, and according to his own stii.tqinont, once co-editor of the- Melbourne Artjwt, and Herald, \ a% poisoned himself at an hotel iii New York,

London, December 11. Although proverbially the foremost topic of conversation among , ftnglishmcn, it is Hot often that it newspaper correspondent opens his budget of news with allusions to thn weather. There are seasons, however, when this reticence may be departed from with propriety,'and when remarks on nicteorogioul pu'nionicna become invested with iiiomeutous interest to readers in both.bomisplicres.. The present as it appears to me, is sueii an occasion. Although very: recently there has been a relaxation to almost the mildness and geniality of spring, jet the month of November inflicted onus the foretaste of a winter of hyperborean severity. The prevalence 'of the wind in the east and noilh-east for a period of live or six weeks, almost without intermission, by which thousands of homeward hound vessels were kept hovering around our rocky coasts, in' hourly peril of destruction— tales of, wreckage, collision, and other disasters from clay to day—anxieties oil shore about long, overdue ships and steamers and intense solicitude in thousands of families on behalf of those who almost within sight of land wore the sport of the furious gales, and, in some eases, perishing of starvation—tidings of early snow-storms, and the premature freezing , up of the riversand estuaries of the vigorous North—-complaint.? from the country of the fatal effects on cattle and crops of the long drought and thc-aird piercing atmosphere—an alarming increase of mortality, arising from the almost unparalleled depression of the temperature: and the freezing out of employment of a multitude .of out-door operatives,—these constitute incidents which are far from insignificant in the social and commercial history of oi'ir'eountry during- the departed month, and will justify a passing allusion to them.

Lord Derby in reply to an influential deputation representing the views of the mercantile communities of London, -Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow, which waited upon him a few days ago, has distinctly refused to accede to Sir James Brooke's wishes without reference to Sarawak, and also to reimburse him for the money expended upon the settlement. The policy of the course adopted by thy Government has been strongly animadverted on, and the step has neon tauntingly ascribed to the influence of Bright on Ministerial counsels. The Hon. Fred. Bruce, brother of Lord Elgin and who acted as secretary to him during his late embassy, has been appointed the first Ambassador to Pekin. Lord Napier, it is said, is to be transferred from Washington to Berlin, and is to be succeeded by Mr, Lyons, now at the Tuscan Court.

Last month you received the announcement <<i Mr. Gladstout's departure on an extraordinary mission of inquiry and amcUialion to the lonian Islands, whose mutinous anil ungrateful inhabitants could uot be brought to appreciate lilt; blessings of British protection, it hal long been known that they were animated by an uacoiiquerable aversion to our presence as the public guardians of their interests; but, for several days after the appointment of the Peelite leader to this emlnissage, great curiosity was expressed as to the nature of the circumstances which could prompt a step of so much apparent urgency. The explanation was given by'the publication of two despatches, which had not been long before received from Sir John Young the High Curamisioiier of the Septiusular llepubltc. In these confidential documents, Sir John says plainly that English rule over that turbulent Hellenic population is impracticable, and suggests that, while retaining Corfu as a Grown colony, and fortifying it as a defensive position, the other islands should bs relinquished to Greece, 01, in other words to Russia The Publication of these despatches was re«-ardod as a mamiesto of the intentions of the Darby Government, ami as such was received with a etorm of disapprobation. The Times opened the cannonade with one of its tremendous broadsides, animadverting in terms of severity upon the strange fatahty which seemed to mark the diplomatic correspondence of Lord Derby's Government. This impeachment before the tribunal of public opinion cxtoited from the authorises the startling declaration that the confidential papers in question had been pubhshed without their sanction or knowledge, and that the most searching investigation was being made as to the surreptitious means by which they were divulged. 1,, publish!,).* the communication of the authorities, the Oaibi News, in which the despatches first appeared, explain■ei the manner by which they came into the editors possession, ami. the stops taken to ascertain their authenticity. The editor refuser!, however to disclose to the Colonial Office the name of the individual who had forwarded them. But this reticence did not l on! r serve to screen the offender ; for after about a week's ferreting he delinquent was unearthed,- riot, as might have boo,, suspected, in the shaoe of' Foreign Ofliee olheial, but in the person of a Mr. Guernsey, formerly of the Turkish ' contingent, recently an unsuccessful suitor of Government patronage, and a frequent visitor 1 to the sublibrarian m the private apartriieius of the. .Colonial Department. It was during ouo of these visits that taking- advantage of the ' temporary absence oi his friend from the room, Mr. Guernsey purloined the documents iii question, toßotrior with others, which were siibscfji.cntly restored by the Daily N uws , ■'. . [ .„ 118 tl, oft has been proved, α-ulthe culprit is committed for trial. ■ inS i' S 1 ,n i ß " gr ? outlin(! of 'l''s most provok~V° ■ wh ' oh l l f»ealrondy created no slight >7ZT n iU r ;,g the E,lra i' ca « Powen, who •t o.ooncerned to see that we-fulul- the trust hK,* 6 , l " nlj '.' touk in 18:5 ' " ,,(1 which already bids fail to produce most serious entanglements. V. o p lt . -"l'licurs, indignantly repudiates the duiiiiffMßhea honor pre-ordained for: her, .and i;» nf ;S V . c °-?"' Q t0 sll!,ru "'o fortunes of her *~Blnnds, ,Blnnds - . Mr. Glarlstane has arrived, bis pres e ,, ce creating much excitement in those rer! Tγ - b - L - liul wei''s despatch-to the v {,!. tommissioner ) .announcing the objects of Mi. Gladstone s mission lias been published in the Lorfu Gazette, whence it has been copied in ° l r n ;, E "? lisl1 We™, from this exposition of Uiu views and intentions of the Derby M ' ;, ° ho ilbai "lonment of the Protectorate, him , lstonc ''as a dilHcult task before S»ii K One , thalhns - I,ce » immensely combrred t J ""wasonublo revelations re-