CURRENT EVENTS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1443, 3 August 1860, Page 5

CURRENT EVENTS.

From the European Times, May 18, 1860. Mr. Cobden has published a letter relative to the negociations which have been carried on by himself and other with the French Government respecting the Treaty between the two countries Mr. Cobden avows his partiality for as valorem do ties, but to such duties the French Government will not listen. He refers to ou,r own specific charges on foreign w i# iie, and to the fact that our tariff hardly contains an ad valorem duty, and he adds, naturally enough, that " England is not in a position to dogmatise on this question," In the matter of yarns and pluin cottons, he believes the adoption of specific rates will not be attended with great inconvenience. Ad valorem duties, although the most jus!, tax the time and the capaciiy of Government agents, and hence their unpopularity with the executive on both sides of the Channel. In conclusion, Mr. Cobden asks, — "Can it be true that tnere are sinister influences at work in England to mar this fuir ptospect ? If, so, I trust the mercantile, manufacturing, mining, and trading interests of the country will prove true to themselves, for, in the present oase, their interests are eminently those of humanity and civilisation." The influences to which Mr. Cobden refers ove political, not .commercial, any! it is not creditable to the Opposition in Parliament that, while they allowed the Treaty and the Budget lo pass triumphantly, they aro now doing all they can to neutralise the benefits of the one, and discredit tht> many excellent feut tires of the other. The anuual dinner which preredes the opening of the Royal Acade.i.v is one of those few public occasions when rival politicians can meet at the social board on neutral ground and do justice to each other's conduct and convictions. Lord Palmerston was very happy "in responding t:> the toast of " the noblemen and gentlemen who had honoured the Academy with their pirsonoe." " I am con-, vinced," ssiid he, " that there is not one amongst those who does not look forward to thai day as one of the brightest in the whole course of the year." He then referred to the men, euch emiuent iu his respective sphere, who met at this dinner. " You meet assembled here politicians forgetful of antagonism, men of professions free from their cares, men of li'einiure unmindful of their anxieties, men of science, who for a time do not think of tijeir labours — all who enter your «luAr's- deposits upon tho tbreshul 1 every troubling thought of the outward world, and meet only for it o.'ininon purpose — to appreciate mid admire." 'Such a compliment to the conmany was certain to elicit uppruval, and the sentiment was nwutded by loud cheers. But ihevo was much in what followed that rose beyond personal eulogy. " There is nothing more ennobling," he continued, •• thun iho cultivation of art. Nations have been great in war, although they wt-re to u certain extent deserving ul'tlio eniihei o hurharou*, — but a nmion to bo leullj prosperous must excel, not only in its B'rength, wealtl., and prosperity, bu must excel, also, us I am proud to baj this uoiimry doe*, in the development o Us intellectual power.-*. The ailist no t y creates, but improves, an.i dirests

and guides the taste of the patrons of urt^ because even when the mind which I directs it is gone, and when the hand , which executes it is cold, the genius it i recorded continues a standard of taste, to guide and direct the judgment ofmani kind for ages after the decease of the | artist himself." This was well said, and j it is true iu every sense, and it was never 1 more strictly correct than at the pre'se'nt moment, when the English school of art is making strides which promise to place it foremost in the vafr of nations. And not only is the English school of painting progressing aunually, but the works of living artists are rewarded by an amount of patronage such as their predecessors never knew. The sums paid to the leading painters now-a-days seems almost fabulous as compared with those which ruled in an earlier stage of the art in this country, and those who stand high in their profession have commissions which anticipate their labour for years in advanoe. It is worthy of notice, too, that unl.ke former days, the aristocracy are not the only persons who have the taste to appreciate and the means to possess fino paintings ; the. middle classes — the wealthy merchants and manufacturers, aie competitors for the works of popular ani*ts, and buv pictures as well as give commissions with no niggard hand. At this dinner a well known American author, Mr. Motley, whose work, entitled '' The Rise of the Dutch Republic," has excited a share of interest on both sides of the Atlantic, figured conspicuously. The president ofthe academy, Sir Charles Eastlnke, connected his name with the toast, " the interests of literature/' and Mr. Motley made a telling reply, stating amongst other things that "no truehearted American can ever account himself a foreigner when his foot treads the soil of Britain." We can readily conceive what all the accounts declare, that " this reunion was throughout of the most delighted character." There was recently a graud muster of ihe London volunteers in Holland-park, and the evolutions of the amateur soldiers are described as being complicated and very cleverly executed. Persons of distinction were admitted to the park by ticket. The hour was rather late, seven in the evening, and the presence of her Majesty, who was on the ground soon after six, did not accelerate the commencement of the proceedings, in consequence of the difficulty in getting the volunteers together so soon after the termination of the hours of business. The number of volunteers amounted to 2000. " While in line," we are told, " the force extended from oue eud of the park to the other, and iu this formation advancing at quick march tests the steadiness with which regiments are drilled as severely as any movements can. It was performed with wonderful steadiness and good order, — so much, indeed, as to excite the surprise aud admiration of every visitor on the ground." The whole of the volunteer force in and around London will be reviewed by her Majesty in the course of a month or six weeks from the present time, and it will take place in Hyde-park. As the Queen takes so decided an interest in the movement, she may be iuduced also to listen to the remonstrance which the metropolitan and proviuoial officers of these volunteer regiments have addressed to the Horse Guards or the War office, against the order recently issued, to the effect that when the oncers are presented at Court, they cannot be recognised by the military titles whioh their commissions bear in the volunteer force. It is hardly possible to conceive a more gratuitous piece of insolence on the part of the upper military martinets, which seems to have been purposely framed to offend the selfrespect of the gentlemen to whom it refers. It would appear from this that persons who serve the country voluntarily, without fee or reward, are not deemed worthy of being placed in the same category as those who receive the public pay — a strange, aud, under the circumstances, a very stupid distinction. William George Pullinger, who was known two or three weeks back to have robbed the Union Bank, of which he was cashier, to the amount of £263,000, has been tried, pleaded guilty, and sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude. It is said that the cause of the prisoner's adI milting his guilt on "he trial was to pro- ' piliate his employers, and thus prevent any searching investigation before the Court into the negligence of the directors, whose confidence in their dishonest servant has been the cause of this enormous abstraction of the funds of a joiutslock company. Another questiou has ', been raised of far more public impor- , tance than the amount of punishment j which this man may receive for his rasi cality, and it is this— how far brokers and others arojustified in transacting the business of a servant in a public company I who speculates out of all proportion to : his means ? If the receiver of stolen property is held to be hardly less crimi- : mil than the thief, can brokers and others I who have been the instruments of his . losing, and it may be of his sometimes gaining, immense sums of money, be regarded as other than accomplices in his knavery. A moruing contemporary puts this rery foicibly. "liis as clearly the duty of every man to ascertain the cha- '' raoicT and the means of those with whom I '■, ho docs business as it is of a silversmith 'i to see that teaspoons offered him for > | sale are the property of the slatternly t woman who brings them." This ought f\ to be so, and if the principle had been t acied upon in ihe case of Pullinger, his t s\si«m of plunder, which hus continued over live consecutive years, would long

since have been discovered and arrested. The facts connected with Pullinger's case, and events in other quarters during the last few years, prove that the morality of a considerable section of the commercial world is of a very lax and unsatisfactory nature. The committee of stock brokers have had before them certain members of the Stock-exchange who transacted Pullinger's busiuess, but the results were not such as seem likely to oure the evil.

The Dublin Mail says that within this last fortnight between 400 aud 500 young men, of the respectable classes, have left Ireland en route for Rome. They were picKed up in Cork, Kerry, North Tipperary, and Dublin, and each of them was furnished with £13 15s. to pay his passage to Italy. The particularity of the sum of money is singular. Whether the money came from the Pope's Exchequer or the pockets of his Holiness's friends is not stated. The emigration to the United States does not appear to be affected by the movement iu the other direction, for an "extraordinary outflow'' is said to depart weekly from Queeustown. Mr. Cardwell has alluded to the subject in Parliament.

Lord Shaftesbury has prepared a bill for the " further regulation" of ecclesiastical " rites, ceremonies, and ornaments," which has, no doubt, been suggested by the unfortunate conflict between the clergy and the inhabitants of St. George's-in-the-East. His lordship proposes that orders, which may at any time be annulled or altered by vubsoquent decrees, may be issued by Her Majesty in Council, with the advice of the Archbishops of Canterbury, York, Armagh, and Dublin, for regulating church furniture and fittings, and the vestments^ to be worn by the clergy. These orders are to be of the most stringent nature, and any clergyman guilty of non-compliance therewith may, on de dining to abstain from " innovations," for the future, be prosecuted in " any eccleastical court." For the first offence- he is simply to be ceisured and admonished; if convicted a second time, he may be suspended for a period not exceeding 12 calender mouths ; while, fora thiid act of disobedience or neglect, " he shall be deprived of all his ecclesiastical promotions and dignities, and be disqualified from officiating thereafter as a cleik of the said Church."

A remarkable rumour, which seems to have obtained some credence in Paris, is mentioned iu one or two continental papers. It is said that the French Govern - meut, irritated by the augmentation of the Prussian army, aud the consequent demand for an additional grant of some £1,300,000 for military purposes, has dispatched to Beilin a note requiring explanations of the object of Prussian armaments. There is little doubt that the Emperor Louis Napoleon is annoyed by Prussia's evident determination to place herself in a good stut^ of defence.

A pamphleteering mania bus ogain broken out in Paris, aud, as usual, warlike topics are the principal subjects of discussion. One pamphlet, by M. Jourdon, entiled the "Frontiers of the Rhine," has been suppressed on account of the little distinction which the writer seemed to m»ke in the laws of tneum and tuum; anuthor, on "France, England, and War," has been permitted to appear, but we may suppose that its moral will be harmless, as the unfortunate necessity imposed upon the Government of Louis Napoleon of stopping every publication unpalatable to an ally would otherwise have been put in practice.

There appears to be some dispute as to whether the Count de Montemoliu and his brother have really renounced their rights to the throne of Spain, but the matter is not of such general interest as to warrant a repetition of ihe details of the dispute. It is certain, whether the Caiiist pretenders have made their peace with the ooiint or not, that ihey have been sent out of Spain free. The two princes have been traiyporced to Gene, tiom whence they will probably depatt for Paris. Doubtless they will be more at home in the French capital than on a revolutionary expedition in Spain.

Letters from Rome reiterate the rumour which prevailed of a disagreement batwaen Cardinal Antonolli and General Lamoriciere ; but the disagremenl appears to be confined merely to a matter of discipline, and not of policy. The general is a thorough soldier, accustomed to mili-* taiy command and military obedience*, aud his roughness and apparent wish to rule the destinies of the Roman See have rather disappointed the cardinal, whose priestly policy is, however, likely to bo more popular with the Holy See than that of the rough and-ready movements o> Lnmoriciere. [t is now asserted tLat the French force will by no means depart from Rome till the Pope is certain he can do without them, and if money is required before the Papal army is strong enough for home purposes, it may be some time before the French forces evacuate the place, for the Gior mile di Roma says that the contributions of the whole Catholic world to this time only amount to one and a half millions of francs. General Oudinot will not, contrary to the previous report, tuke service with the Papal forces.