NEWS BY THE SUEZ MAIL.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1248, 7 March 1878, Page 3

NEWS BY THE SUEZ MAIL.

We publish below extracts from the papers to hand by the Arawala. The following items aie from the “ Spectator GOURKOS PASSAGE OP THE BALKANS. The march of General Gourko over the Etropol Balkans to Sofia appears to have been a really marvellous feat. He abandoned the main road, and took a. mountain path from’ Orkhnnie to the westward of Kaba Kona k and thence to Taecbkesen. The road for the guns had literally to be made in the dark, for the sappers could only work at night, and the paths were so slippery that steps had to be cut with the axe, as in ascending a steep snow-mountain. The men, ill-fed, and subjected for several days to intense cold, were almost worn out, and after doing their work in the snow, dropped down asleep “ like logs but still the road was made, and the advance-guard, after thirty hours of incredible effort, scaled the ridge and slid down literally to the southern side. The whole force gradually crossed, and, as wo know, Tnschkesen was carried, and S.ifia occupied on the 6th. The exploit was a most daring one, but its record will probably be forgotten in the face of the triumph in the Shipka Pass. It is easy, too, to attract attention to the bravery of the Turks, difficult to attract, it to the equal bravery of the Russian soldiers. It is expected of the latter. THE NEW ORDER FOR WOMEN. Lord Beaconsfield has lighted another colored fire to illumine India. The “Gazette” of Friday week contains u decree creating another Order, this time of women only. It is called the “ Imperial Order of the Crown of India,” —by the way, is that crown made yet ? —and confers certain insignia or decorations on certain English and native ladies. These insignia are undescrihed, but it is denied that, they will consist of diamond nose-rings made in the highest Indian taste, and specially distinctive of the country. All the Princesses receive the Order; the Maharanee Dhulcep Singh, a Copt, wo believe, by birth ; seven great native ladies, chosen wo do not. know how, for Scindiah’s wife and the wife of Holkar are both omitted, while the mother of the Guicowar is included; and eighteen English ladies, wives of past and existing Yiceroys, Governors, Secretaries, and Undersecretaries for India. The omissions even in this list are unintelligible, Lady Lawrence not being included ; and the wives of all the Lieutenant-Governors, who are twice as powerful and independent as the Governors, are pointedly left out. No soldier’s wife receives the distinction, and only one lady who could claim it on account of direct service to the people, the Maharanee Hai Noraoyee, who is, we believe, the Lady Rurdett Coutts of Calcutta. She deserves it, but she is head of a family of Telis (oil-dealers by caste), and her name will not sweeten the gift to Indian Princesses. CANON MOZLEY. The English Church has lost one of its most original thinkers by the death of Canon Mozley, the Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford. His Bampton Lectures on Miracles, and still more the very striking volume of University Sermons published a year or two ago, marked him out as one of the few thinkers whose best sermons would match fairly, for lucidity and depth of thought, those of Bishop Butler or Dr. Newman. His style was somewhat pallid, though not without a grace and beauty of its own, but for depth of insight into the moral and intellectual principles at work in Revelation, and for skill in illustrating that insight, he was certainly without a rival in the English Church of our generation. CHANGES IN INDIAN POLICY. Lord Lawrence has addressed a long and valuable letter to the “Times,” protesting against the recent change of policy upon the Indian North-west Frontier. Ho disapproves the occupation of Q.uettah, twenty-five miles beyond the Bolan Pass, on the ground that the place is useless, unless we intend a forward movement to Candahar and Herat, which he strongly deprecates. It would bitterly irritate all Afghans, be excessively expensive, and alienate the minds of all the native troops employed. No revenue is to be obtained from Afghanistan, the occupation of the country would require 30,000 troops, and after all, it is more than doubtful, in the opinion of the best military experts, whether such an outpost would bo more defensible in the case of an attack from Russia than our present frontier. There would always bo a risk that the wild tribes of the hills would fall on our communications. It is not probable that Lord Lawrence has taken the trouble to write a letter of three columns without being pretty well aware that there was a necessity for it, but he does not express any apprehension of immediate action. He only fails to see, if action is not imminent, what is the good of Quettah.

The following items are from the “European Mail”:THE VISIT OF THE SHAH OF PERSIA.

The Shah has grown sick and tired of the dull monotony of his Persian capital, and intends taking an extended run to Europe, which he would have done again before this but for the troubles he found had arisen during his last absence. His Majesty will this time travel incognito. The preliminary arrangements for the journey had been completed when our informant dispatched his letter, and His Majesty’s private secretary, Mirza Ali Khan, Elmin-ul-Moulk, left Teheran on October 19th to act the part of “ agent in advance,” and prepare the necessary quarters, Ac , at (lie places it is his master’s intention to honor. The trip will commence in the spring, and Teheran will lose sight of its august sovereign for six or eight months. The Shah gives out that his resolve has been prompted by a desire still further to promote the welfare of his kingdom by the introduction into it of more European customs ; but there is a feeling that other considerations have carried weight, and (he opinion is expressed that His Majesty is not the man to inconvenience himself for the benefit of his kingdom if (he did not wish to do so. Upon his Eastern mind the reception the Shah received some years back made a lasting impression, and he was lately heard to say that of all the Royal and Imperial personages whose acquaintance he made during his tour, no one more surprised him than the Prince of Wales, because, as he put it, “ he seemed like one of the people, and dressed the same.” AFFAIRS IN EASTERN TURKESTAN. The rumours that were recently circulated of Chinese reverses in Eastern Turkestan are proved to be without any foundation. Important intelligence has been received which completely dispels aEy belief that may yet have remained in the capacity of the new ruler of Kashgar to defend his State against the Chinese. The report comes from Tashkent —the very point from which wo shonli expect the first tidings of events in Western Kashgar —that the Chinese army has occupied Aksu, one of the most prosperous and best fortified cities in the country, and that after a short delay Ust Turfan, eighty miles nearer to the capital, had shared the same fate. This latter event took place at the end of November, and the Chinese army must now be in the immediate vicinity of Kashgar itself. From Ush Turfan to Kashgar the distance is about two hundred and thirty miles, but as the road is cjrcuitous, and barred by the fort at Artosh, the Chinese may be delayed for a short time in (his portion of their advance, unless, indeed, the Kashgari have lost all heart in their cause. The Chinese have at all events, obtained a far greater success this year than might witli some reason have been expected from the apparent dilatoriness of their movements after the death of their great rival, Yakoob Beg. LORD BEACONBFIELD AND MR GLADSTONE. A few days ago Lord Beaconsficld entered on bis seventy-third year; and a few days later Mr Gladstone entered upon his sixtyninth. If age necessarily makes men wise, they both ought by this time to bo models of sagacity. They are full of years and honour, and the country is proud of both of them. Doubtless the voice of party spirit will cou*

tinue to malign and oven labour to belittle each in turn ; but these efforts are so much waste energy, and only betoken the smallmindedness or the rancour of those who indulge in them. It would be idle to pretend that either Mr Gladstone or Lord Beuconsfield has not often laid himself open to just criticism, and it would be vain to hope that, if they are spared (o the nation for another decade, they will not do so again. Moreover, they will not inf-equently be blamed without deserving reprehension, though the blame bestowed may have no maiig”aut motive. As Lord Salisbury aptly remarked a little while ago, English statesmen work in a glass hive. He might have extended the observation, and declared that all of us who are of any consequence live and work in glass houses, but the tact does not in any degree prevent the lavish flinging about of stones. A SCOTCH ARCHBISHOP. It is said that the Episcopalians of Scotland, not to be outdone by the Roman Catholics, are resolved to have an Archbishop of their own. Bishop Eden has been selected as the recipient of this high honour, and three wealthy merchants of Glasgow have already come forward and promised between them £60,000 towards the endowment of the Arch bishopric. The last Archbishop of Scotland was Smcaton, who succeeded Archbishop Sharp after the murder of the latter in 1679. MR GUILDFORD ONSLOW AND THE CLAIMANT. A meeting was held at Port sea on January 7th in support of the movement on behalf of the Tichborne Claimant. Mr Guildford Onslow was one of the speakers. He had, he said, to-day, paid Ids annual visit to his friend Sir Roger Tichborne, who ho was glad to say had been removed from Dartmoor to the more genial atmosphere of Portsmouth. He was happy to say ho had never seen him looking better, nor did he believe that he hod ever been in better spirits. His friend had also stated (hat he had never been so kindly treated before, and he hoped as long as he was in prison he would remain at Portsmouth. Ho read to Sir Roger a letter from his little son, in which he stated that lie had spent a very happy Christmas, and he hoped his father had done the same. The poor prisoner, Mr Onslow said, could not help smiling when the letter from his dear little boy was read to him. Mr Onslow went into details as to the person confined in the Paramatta Lunatic Asylum, who, it is said, is Arthur Orton, and who has been recognised by the Claimant from his photograph, and it was fully hoped that they would be able to bring him to this country. If this should be the case, they might claim to have at any rate raised such a doubt in the case as to justify the discharge of the prisoner. Mr Quarterman East also addressed the meeting. SUICIDE IN ST. PAUL’S. On January lltb a Mr T. W. Stevens, of Peckham, a man of about thirty years of age, committed suicide by throwing himself from the whispering gallery on to the lloor of St. Paul’s Cathedra l . He had paid for admission to the cn pt and galleries, and a few minutes before his suicidal act was seen kneeling in the clock tower. From this it is inferred that he was suffering from religious mania. He fell on some chairs, breaking two of them in pieces and injuring himself in a frightful manner. Some vergers had him conveyed to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, where he was found to be dead. The sum of £l3 in gold and a silver watch and chain were found in his possession, MISCELLANEOUS. News from the Cape has been received to the 26th December. A number of the Galekas have surrendered, and Kreli was only deterred from doing the same by fear of punishment. Sir Bartle Frere promised to support the disarmament of the natives. The 60th Regiment has sailed for Capo Town with a buttery of artillery, which will bring the ’ Imperial forces in South Africa up to 5000 men, in addition to the colonial force. The 93rd Regiment is ordered to be in readiness to leave England for the Cape if required. Mr Anthony Trollope has reached England on his return from Cape Town. The international dissensions in the India Office, in connection with the resignation of Mr Clements Markham, and the attempt to shelve Dr. Forbes Watson for his advocacy of the establishment of the Colonial Museum away from South Kensington, are attracting attention. During the night of the Bth inst. the doctor’s drawers and desk were broken open, and a number of private and official papers stolen. Detectives are investigating the affair. The importation of wheat from America is increasing. Mr Edward Wilson died rather suddenly, but not unexpectedly, at his residence, Hayes place, near Berkley, Kent, on the morning of the 10th. The 44 Times ” of the 12th inserted a brief obituary notice. The funeral ceremony, which was attended by a large number of colonials and others, took place at Norwood Cemetery. In the sculling match between Boyd and Higgins, the former fouled near Redheath bridge, and Higgins was obliged to finish the race in another boat. He accused Boyd of wilfully smashing his boat. On landing at Newcastle the referee gave his decision in favor of Higgins, adjudging him to be the winner. On the following day a race on the Tyne v between Robert -Bagnell and William Elliott for £IOO, resulted in the latter winning by a fair length inj3smin., wind aud tide against him. The course was three miles and a half. The following telegram from New York has been published in the London papers : 44 Courtney, the American oarsman, has agreed to row a match with Trickett, the Australian, on Lake Owasco, in the State of New York.” An explosion of dynamite destroyed a factory at Giron, on the Franco-Spanish frontier.

A Russian cartridge manufactory was blown up at St. Petersburg on the 20th December. Twenty persons were injured, of whom eight have since died.

Obituary. —The Marquis of Ailcsbury, 73 ; General Sir Edward Gust, 83 ; General Montuubun, known as Count Palakio, commander of the French Expedition in China, 83; M, Bulgares, Greek Minister, 76 ;M. Raspail, 84 ;Mr Wm. Cobbett; Courbet, Frencli artist, who ordered the destruction of the Column.