ARRIVAL OF THE “STORM BIRD,” WITH THE ENGLISH MAIL.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume I, Issue 5, 1 August 1861, Page 5 (Supplement)

ARRIVAL OF THE “STORM BIRD,” WITH THE ENGLISH MAIL.

The s.s. Storm Bird arrived here from Wellington about one o’clock on Monday morning, bringing the English mail and news to the 2 1 th ox May. She left Wellington on the previous Saturday evening, thus making the passage with her usual jmuctuality. The news by the English Mail is of a most satisfactory character as regards the political aspect of Europe. No mail for a long time past has been so pacific. What was supposed to be the eve of a great continental struggle lias given place to a bright and almost unclouded morn. The eyes of the world are turned from Europe to America, where one of the fiercest of internecine wars is going on. The Federal Government has assured the European Powers that the rebellion will be put down, and that the thought of a dissolution of the Union, peaceably or by force, has never been entertained by it for a moment. The first inactivity of * the Federal Government is explained by its determination to give time for reflection; but now that the Confederated States have taken up arms, no exertions will be spared to meet force by force. A standing army of 100,000 men is being raised, besides militia levies, and the most energetic measures are being matured. Mr. Russell, the Times correspondent, writes that “ the general impression of those who know the South best is that we are at the commencement of a long and bloody war, the best judges all maintaining that the South will shed the last drop of blood before it comes back into the Union.” The Great Eastern is at New York, and the Federal Government is in treaty' for employing her as a transport ship. There is not much by this mail affecting New Zealand. • A Bill lias been introduced into the House of Lords, but what its object is we have not been able to learn. It is probably in reference to the constitution of a Native Council in lieu of the Bill withdrawn last year, and differing from the one passed by the Assembly last session giving the control of Native Affairs to the Ministry. A telegram from Malta, dated 30th May, states “ Governor of New Zealand, re-ap-pointed.” The New Zealand War Loan of £150,000 was brought into the market on the 20th May ; only £18,400 was taken up, the minimum price being £lOl 15s. Some of the accepted bids were at £lO2 10s., £lO3, and one at £104; the lowest offer £B7 10s. The Colonial Defence Committee of the House of Commons was pursuing its labours. Mr. Walter Brodie (would that all returned colonists were equally active) had been examined, and stated that even if peace were restored, from 2,000 to 3,000 troops was the lowest force necessary', and, considering the number of the warlike tribes in the colony', he did not think it fair to call upon the colonists to contribute to the maintenance of a military force. The Inter-Colonial Steam Company had declared a dividend of per cent. The obituary contains the names of Sir Hedworth Williamson, Sir George Jackson, the Duke of Bedford, Professor Henslow, and Sir Henry Durrani. A movement is said to be going forward successfully amongst a large body of Nonconformists for the establishment of a new colony', or rather a new settlement in New Zealand. Major the Hon. W. C. Yelverton, of the Roy'al Artillery, is placed on half-pay, and his name has been removed from the effective list of the regiment. Mrs. Longworth Yelverton is at present in Manchester. It is said that the purpose of her visit is to collect evidence in connection with the law proceedings now pending between the lady and her husband. Some doubt has been expressed as to whether Mrs. Forbes Yelverton would live with the major until the proceedings now pending before the Irish and Scotch courts, relative to the legality of his first marriage with Theresa Longworth, were concluded. But the following paragraph from a Dublin paper sets the question at rest: —“The Hon. Major Yelverton and Mrs. Forbes Yelverton have arrived in Dublin from London.” The present mail is the quickest which has ever come to hand. It was made up in London on the 27th May', and reached Nelson on the 23rd July'. GENERAL SUMMARY. (From the Home News, May 27, 1861.) Universal attention is diverted for the hour from Europe to .America. Italy fades before the stronger blaze of South Carolina and her confederates ; Naples yields in interest to Washington ; and even the Quadrilateral is forgotten in the curiosity with which intelligence is looked for from the neighbourhood of Norfolk Harbor. The whole

face of things has undergone a revolution, from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Florida. The motionless policy of the Washington Cabinet has been suddenly roused into activity and President Lincoln has illustrated the ambiguous reserve with which he entered upon office by a declaration of war.

There is no longer any doubt about the shape the American quarrel is doomed to take ; although no man, even with these facts (for which there is no redemption) before him, can. venture to prophecy the issue. On the sth of May, the 20 days of grace granted by President Lincoln to the citizens iu arms against the Federal Government expired : and from that moment all hope of peace was abandoned. It must be granted to President Lincoln that, although he suffered an inexplicable lull to intervene between the flash and the bolt, his thunder is real enough, now that it has begun to roll over the States. The pause was, probably, necessary to collect, his strength, and feel the pulse of the people ; and the result appears to justify the delay. Washington is amply protected against assault; troops are levying in all directions, with great zeal and animation ; Baltimore is in possession of Federal troops, and according to the last accounts, the town was placed under* martial law ; the roads to Washington from the north and north-east are kept open against those of the Maryland population who sympathise with the secessionists; the Virginia waters have been completely blockaded, and before this time an effectual blockade will have been established at Charlestown, Savannah, and New Orleans ; Western Virginia has declared for the Union, and even in the other parts of the state of Virginia, where the secession feeling was strongest at first, the Union movement is spreading ; warlike stores destined fer the south have been seized on the Mississippi ; a regiment of Missouri militia has surrendered to the Federal forces ; General Scott is expected to occupy positions in command of the capital on the territory of Virginia ; and not trusting to the capabilities of the volunteers for a campaign which may fairly be considered an invasion, involving all the strategies of war, the Government has resolved to raise a standing army of 100,000 men to serve as long as hostilities last. We hear little of the progress making on the other side. Harper’s Ferry is defended only by a mere handful of men, which indicates sufficiently the difficulty that exists in defending the Confederacy. Its boundaries arc too vast to admit of protection at all points. It cannot procure force enough to secure all the spots threatened by the Northern troops. President Davis has issued his letters of marque, which will soon be available; but it remains yet to be seen to what extent foreign adventurers will he found ready to risk his service. lie also purchased some ships, which he proposes to arm ; has begun, as recommended, the foundation of gun factories and arsenals; and announces an army, on paper of 100,000 men. A great deal of this is flourish and bravado ; whale on the other side the blow lias already followed the word. # But apart from the actual movement taken by the Federal Government, we have no official declaration, so explicit, conclusive, and authoritivc, as to leave us in no uncertainty as to their policy. They have nailed the colors to the mast, and have avowed the fact to the whole world. M r. Seward writing to the American representative in Paris, instructs that minister to assure the French Government, in answer to a desire they had intimated for an amicable settlement of matters, that it is not and never was, the intention of the Federal Government, to recognise, or permit, the dissolution of the L nion, under any pretence, or shape whatever. Seward’s letter is a document of the utmost importance, coming out just at the crisis when the Northern power is opening five upon the revolutionists in the south. There is no attempt at evasion of responsibility, or mystery of expression, in Mr. Seward's in-tructions to the American representative. His purpose is clear, and it is put into the most emphatic language. The North regards the Confederacy as an overt rebellion, and announces through its highest official organ the resolution of the government to deal with it accordingly. Compromise is no longer possible ; and be the issue what it may the battle must be fought Our Government lias wisely determined not only not to interfere in the quarrel, but to warn all British subjects that they will do so on their own individual risk. The Queen in Council has issued a proclamation apprising English subjects in all parts of the world of the severe pains and penalties they will incur by taking any part, iramadiately or remotely, in the dispute between the belligerent States; and giving them very plainly and unequivocally to understand that they must not look for protection from their own Government, in any perils to which they may thus become exposed. President Lincoln says he will hang as pirates all persons taken on the seas with letters of marque ; and, should any Englishman be amongst them, her Majesty, or her Ministers, will certainly not interfere to prevent him. Some exception has been taken in the House of Lords to the terms of this procloraation, as not being sufficiently clear and definite ; but it is extremely difficult to be clear and definite in such a case, and something must be left to be ultimately settled by negociation. For example, a mere declaration of blockade does not constitute a blockade according to the law of nations; it must be effectual, that is to say, it must be maintained by a navy sufficient to enforce it, before it will obtain recognition from other nations. In any case, privateers are not pirates, in the European interpretation. Again, we have recognised the belligerent rights of the southern Confederation by the very terms and intentions of this proclamation ; while President Lincoln, by the notification which threatens to treat as pirates all persons serving in its name, treats the Confederation as a treasonable conspiracy, and denies it any belligerent rights whatever. The complications growing up out of these anomalies must be s ntied as they accrue. It would have been impossible to have provided for them in advance. Meanwhile, it is enough for all British subjects to know that England remains neutral in the internecine contest, and that she will not protect any persons who, in any way, engage in if. Debates of general interest have recently engrossed the French senate; one upon the occupa-

tion of Syria, the other upon the commercial treaty entered into with England. The question of the continued occupation of Syria had been referred upon petition to a committee, who, with the view to leave the matter entirely in the hands of the Government, recommended that the prayer of the petition (in favor of occupation) should not receive the assent of the Senate. The debate was raised on this- point. The second question occurred upon a petition praying for a revision of the treaty with England, the object being to secure greater protection for the products of the French fisheries. The petition was referred, as usual, to a committee ; and in this case, the judgemet of the committee was exactly the reverse of that of the committee on Syria, its recommendation being that the petition should be referred to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Marine, and Commerce, a course which would imply that the Senate had approved of a modification of the treaty. It is proper to state that no communications on the subject have passed between the two Governments, and that the English Cabinet are impressed with a conviction that France will maintain the treaty unimpaired. The echo of the Due d’Aumale’s letter still reverberates through France. It is not enough that it should be visited with the extreme penalties of arbitrary law, but the Minister of the Interior, M. Persigny, has considered it necessary for the future repose ot the empire to visit all possible letters to come, of a like kind, with condemnation in advance. He has issued a circular to the Prefects in which he instructs them to keep a sharp lookout upon similar lucubrations, whenever and wherever they may appear, in the name, or under the auspices ot the Orleanists, or any of their abettors. “Watch carefully,” he tells them, “every attempt at publishing writings in the names of persons banished or exiled from the territory.” What the Prefects are to do in such cases is distinctly laid down. “ Lou are to proceed at once,” continues M. Persigny, “to an administrative seizure of them, refer to me immediately, and await my instructions.” He hears even that “writings of the same kind are being prepared at this moment ;” and the horror in ■which everything, even of the most apparently innocuous kind, proceeding from an Urleanist is regarded, cannot bo more emphatically shown than in the fact that the Due d’Aumale’s very innocent speech the other day at the Literary Fund Dinner has been suppressed in France, Let in the face of those confessions of terror and weakness, the empire boasts of possessing a strong government. Assuredly if Louis Napoleon were casting about for the most effectual way of re-awaking the interest of the people in the exiled Bourbons,- he could not have hit upon a more happy method of accomplishing his object than by this injudicious prosecution ofapampldet written in reply to a wanton and unprovoked attack, and coming from a prince who, to say the least of him, has suffered the martyrdom of exile with dignity and honor. The reconciliation of Garibaldi with Cavourand .Cialdiui, brought about mainly by the personal offices of the King, has spread universal joy throughout Italy, especially in the south, where Garibaldi’s popularity is at its height. Having expressed his opinions boldly in the Chamber, and made peace with those whom he had offended by the freedom of his language, the gallant soldier left Turin, and returned to his lonely home in the island of Caprera. He bides his time patiently. Probably he has seen that the present crisis is safer in Favour's hands than in his own, and being ready to sacrifice all personal considerations to the interests of Italy, lie waits till he is wanted in the field. This is what might be expected from Garibaldi, and even his greatest enemies have not ventured to misinterpret his conduct. Italy is in movement, from the north to the south, but it is the movement of preparations for settling down. Some political disturbances have broken out at Milan ; they were of brief continuance and tranquility is restored, Harmony reigns in Naples. The determination of the new Governor to give immediate and patient attention to all complaints, and at the same time to enforce the laws is accepted by all reflecting people as the dawn of a constitutional era. A decree published at Messina, ordering a levee of the people for the the national army, which is an absolute novelty of the most wonderful kind in Sicily, has been received with enthusiasm. Khqika and Kossuth have met in Turin, and both have gone to visit Garibaldi in Caprera. Such a gathering could not take place without suggesting “ plots, policies, and ambuscades.” Ycnetia and Hungary are to be disposed of finally at these Conferences, and it only wants the presence of a Polish representative to complete the round of the European convulsion now hatching in Garibaldi’s hut. The old story of a compromise with Austria is revived, and a money compensation for the redemption ofVcnetiais again talked of; but the story seems to bo all wings and no body. It is flatly contradicted by the Austrian press, and until it assumes a more substantial form it is not entitled to a moment’s consideration. The future of Poland is still held in suspense by the adroit manner in which the Russian Government alternately administers concessions and bullets. Lashed into madness to-day, and soothed to morrow, the conduct of the Poles very much resembles that of the noble dog whom some urchin tantalises and perplexes by patting it coaxingly on one side, while he is pinching and striking it on the other. The accounts that have latterly come from Warsaw exhibit a pretty accurate analogy to the condition of the dog under such circumstances. Reforms and improvements are promised as before with, perhaps, a shade of improvement. A measure for the redemption of the forced labor of the peasantry is said to have been promulgated ; but how far it is calculated to conciliate and satisfy the people has not yet transpired. On the other hand the population are literally placed under surveillance. Every species of popular demonstration is sternly prohibited. The press is crushed. Whatever the Government ordains must be borne with,’out a murmur, or worse will follow; and whatever the people complain of is enforced with tenfold rigor.

The Schleswig-Holstein dispute seems to be in a fair way of settlement at last. Neither the Prus-

sian government nor the Danish government are any longer willing, or perhaps, wo should say, desirous, of pushing the question to extremities, and thus precipitating a war the extent of which might become a matter of European concern. When the antagonists in the quarrel begin to see the affairs in this light, there is at length a rational ground for hoping that a pacific arrangement may be arrived at. Prussia seeing probably, that she could not very conveniently carry out her threats, and Denmark, ready for war, but much more anxious for peace, are both prepared to abandon something of their former pretensions: and the President of the Danish council, with a candor which has distinguished the conduct of the Danish authorities throughout, informs a deputation, which had waited upon him to protest against German intervention in Denmark, that the Government is ready to sacrifice to some extent its strict legal rights in Holstein. It seems to be agreed on all hands that Denmark lias acted with great liberality and forbearance throughout ; and now that England, France, and Russia are united in their friendly interposition, we may reasonably hope that the advanced offers of the Danish Ministry will not have been made in vain.

The proceedings in Parliament are marked by variety and bustle, rather than by the weight of work actually accomplished. The budget forms the the great exception to the mass of business, great and small, proposed, or in actual progress. That the House of Commons, after sanctioning the maintenance of the tea and sugar duties, should a<ree in a resolution for the repeal of the paper duty, was to be expected; but Mr. Disreali was careful not to tie up his hands in reference to the future intricacies through which these duties have to pass, before the resolutions of the Commons should become embodied in a bill or bills. He reserved his right to take any course he might consider advisable ; so that although the House of Commons had, no doubt by a very small majority agreed to a certain scheme of finance, it was yetjustpossible that the Opposition might succeed in effecting a diversion before the session was over In this expectation' however, the Opposition failed for after a protracted and arduous debate, the Customs and Inland Revenue Bill, including the repeal of the paper duty lias been read a second time. The Opposition did not think it advisable to stake their strength upon an issue which, to say the best of it, was exceedingly doubtful. Perhaps next in interest to tins question, at all events in a social sense, "’as the appointment of a committee, on the motion of Sir Hugh Cairns, to enquire into the law of marriage in Ireland. In the Lords, Few Zealand affairs have been touched upon ; the proclamations regarding America, and the rights of belligerents, and the question of privateering, have been ventilated ; Lord Shaftesbury has fruitlessly attacked the report of the Education Commissioners ; and the determination of the Spanish government to take possession of St. Domingo, under pretext of annexation by the will of the the people, has not escaped notice. Amongst the remarkable incidents of the day, we should not omit the presidency of the Due d’Aiunalc at the anniversary dinner of the Literary I* und. It was remarkable on many accounts, political, social and literary : and the ability displayed by liis royal highness greatly enhanced the extraordinary interest of the occasion.