ENGLISH MAIL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 657, 5 April 1870, Page 3

ENGLISH MAIL NEWS.

— — — ♦ A block of buildings in Glasgow, facing the Western Club, lately sold at the rate of L5O the square yard. The Duke of Richmond gave his castingvote for Sij> W. Stirling Maxwell as Rector of Aberdeen University. The nations were equal at poll, but Mr Grant Duff had a majority of votes, and Sir W. Stirling Maxwell has in consequence declhied to accept the post. In consequence of the expulsion of Mr Dal way, M.P., from the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, the Orangemen of Carrickfergus district have thrown of their allegiance and formed a Grand Lodge of their own. Mr Dalway has been installed as Grand Master. A private telegram from England, received in Melbourne, states that Messrs Burnetts, Hoares and Co.'s Bank, in London, has been robbed of LIO,OOO, in Bank of England notes, LBOOO of the amount consisting of eight notes of LlOOO each, dated October, 1863. A reward of LlOOO has been oftered in England for the recovery of the money and the conviction of the thief. The other day a young lady residing near Castle Island, the daughter of a respectable farmer, eloped with a young Scotch gamekeeper, named Donald Cameron. The lady possesses a fortune of LSOQ. They fled to Scotland, but at Glasgow Cameron was arrested for forgery, and conveyed back to Tralee in custody. The. young lady also returned to Tralee. He was charged before the magistrat- , with presenting a forged cheque for L 4 . 10s at Messrs Scanlans', in the Mai. When arrested a similar document wa» found with him, %awn on Messrs Craig. of Craig's Court, London, forLlO, besides cash to the amount of L 2 6105. His trunks ajnong other valuable articles, contained a handsome pistol, ammunition, and a great deal of silver plate. A scandalous scene was witnessed the last day of the old year at the offices of the Bankruptcy Court. The new Act, which divests persons of the privilege of volunt xrily declaring themselves bankrupt, was to come into operation on the Ist of January, and the rush of claimants to (For continuation of news see Fourth Page.)

avail themselves of the means of emancipation from thtir liabilities then about to oxpire, was such that it was with difficulty the clerks of the Court were able to receive and noto down the names and designations of the applicants. When at last the doors •were closed co resist the pressure of the crowd, some importunate insolvents contrived to force their way in at the wincovs. Ths Io idon Gazette announces that the Queen has been graciously pleased to make the following appointments to the most distinguished order of St. Michael and St\ George, To be an Ordinary Member of the First Class, or Knights Grand Cross of the said Order :— The Right Hou< nble Baron Lytton, formerly Secretary of State for the Colonies, To be Ordinary Members of the Second Class, or Knights Commanders of the said Order:— John Roso, Esq., late Finance Minister for the Dominion of Canada ; Thomas William CKnton Murdoch, Esq., one of her Majesty's Commissioners for Colonial Land "and Emigration. To be Ordinary Mem' erj of the Third Class, or « Companions of the said order : — John O'Shanassy, Esq., late Chief Secretary to the Government of Victoria; Charles Sladen, Esq., member of the Executive Council cf wxe Colony of Victoria ; Henry Ayers, Esq., late Chief Secretary to the Government of the Colony of South Australia ; John Hart, Esq., late Chief Secretary to the Government of the Colony of South Australia; George Stoddart Whitmore, Esq., Colonel of the Local Forces in the Colony of New Zealand and member of the Legislative Council of that Colony. Mr Bright has been making several speeches at Birmingham, in the best possible taste, and with the least possible amount of meaning. On all hands he is undtjvstood to have meant to convey to his aulieme and the nation at large that at length he was perfectly satisfied. He has furled his sails on the Irish question, on the American question, and on the conditiou of England question. Except the snubbing he gave the advocates for the Permissive Liquor Bill, and the advocates for commercial reciprocity, there was, indeed, no spice of the old fervour or force in his deliverances. He is known to lean strongly towards the capitalist and manufacturer's view of the colonial question, in which he is supposed to be backed by all the feebleness of Mr Cardwell and all the vigor of Mr Lowe. The Times' leading article embodies the stock objections of this class of politicians to emigration. Taking advantage of rash words, in which one or two individuals have lately indulged, it affects to treat the whole affair as one of communism, socialism, and what not. But this will not do, and as soon as Parliament meets Ministers will have to deal with the question in a very different spirit. Monetary affairs . are gradually though very slowly improving. The Russian loan oorf r L 12,000,000, intended to be applied principally to the development of railways, is at 2 premium. Telegraphic enterprise is the rage. All manner of submarine lines are proposed. Besides the two Australian linos projected, the Falinouth, Gibraltar, aud Malta, intended to be part of the Red Sea route to ludia, one from Manilla to Hong Kong, and several of miner importance, occupy a place in the thoughts of speculators. A far more costly aud important design is that for connecting the south westernmost part of Europe with the northeastornmoat point of the American Continent, by a cable which it is proposed to lay from Lisbon to Madeira, thence to the De Verd Islands, and from that to San Rogue, whence it is to be continued to Rio Janeiro and Cuba, by way of Guiana. Concessions have been obtained from the French, the Brazilian, and Portuguese Governments under a joint protocol which confers an absolute monopoly of magnetic communication for sixty years. The Company is sustained by some of the most potential financiers in Paris and London, The capital asked is Ei,600,000, with power of extension Rubseqhently (or making of brandies; and it is likely to prove of great practical value should its aims be carried out, . Our only novelty in the theatrical world worth mentioning is the opening of the Lyceum Theatre as an Opera Bouffe, with HerveV opera of Clulderic ; a work of no very high pretensions, musical or dramatic. The complete failure of Mr Robertson's " Turn of the Tide ' at the Queen's, and the success of Mr Tom Taylor's blank verse drama, " Twixt Axe and Crown," at the same house may also be recorded. The last named piece is intended to pourtray the vicissitudes of Elisabeth's life as a girl and before reaching the throne. It is ambitious and learned, not badly conceived, and not badly;aoted, and it might have been perhaps a very great pV r , had its author happened to hare been born a poet. New books which come up to Coleridge's definition of "books that are books," there Are none. Mrs Stowe's volume is perhaps the most notable of the month ; and by general consent it is voted despicable and detestable. Nobody who knows what the state of English and Scotch opinion is, believe a that Mr Gladstone's Land Bill will touch fixity of tenure, or direct interference with absenteeism, It could not be earned it it did. And I doubt if there is a single •member of the Cabinet who would recommend it.. The rumour is that it will be an attempt to enact by law, a presumption of tenant-right throughout all Ireland, with certain limits and restrictions, founded upon what is called the "Ulster custojn ;" and that it will enable certain classes of tenants to obtain leases of a simple kind for a certain number of years, ; at a rent not to exceed a fixed enhancement to that which they now pay. The County Courts, it is said, will also be given an increased equity jurisdiction, to enforce contracts and to ensure compen. sation for unexhausted improvements. Three years ago such a Bill would have been cheerfully accepted in Ireland, and would probably have had a useful effect.' But it is now too late, The people have become intoxicated with political and Bocial expectations which no measure of this kind will satisfy. They believe, and with reason, that all they have ever got j has been extorted by agitation and' terror ; -and the complete impunity which agrarian crimes have met with during the past year, unanswerably confirms them in this conviction. For the first time in the history of troubled Irelaud, a whole twelve-month has passed without a single individual having been brought to justice for taking the life of his fellow man. The dreadful system is completely li'uctual for its purpose. The terror is UJiivtrsal aud undeniable; and when

the Land Bill should have been pa3sed, Parliament will undoubtedly be called on once more for repressive measures to retrieve the lost authority of law.