ENGLISH & FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 13, Issue 693, 21 June 1869, Page 3

ENGLISH & FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

. 0l j «OXJR LONDON XETTER" IN THE STDNET i MORNING HEEALD.] London, 21st April. Tk to-day' B Punch our new Chancellor of fag Exchequer is represented as the Wizard of the North drawing golden eggs from a a empty bag, and declaring that there is n 0 deception in the feat. Mr Ward Hunt, his predecessor in office, looks moodily on, murmuring to his leader ««We could have done just the same if we had thought of it," —an apology which outwitted people have been in the Habit of offering to themselves and the world since the days of Columbus. The reference in the cartoon is to Mr Lowe's Budget, which ren its author allows to be a stroke of parliamentary magic. Owing to the de reßse d state of trade, and the cost of the Abyssinian Expedition, it appears that he found himself possessed of a paltry surplus 0 f some few thousands. To advance into g new financial year thus unprovided jgainat emergencies would be, he felt, unjtatesmanliko and discreditable. Could nothing be done to iavent a few millions which he might devote to the relief of public burdens, and yet resorve a handsome balance ? With such success did he apply hi* *'great mind" to the problem that he was ablo in the House Commons to propose the reduction of the Income-tax and the repeal of various imposts, great and ljuall, from tlte duty on the imported corn, which alone had brought in £900,000 a year and the charges on fire insurances abd public conveyances, to the minor matters of tea licenses and hair-powder. And, after all this generosity, there would would remain a surplus of nearly half a million. These ends are effected by simplifying the machinery at present used for collecting the revenue, and by making the payment of almost all the assessed taxes prospective. Amateur local affairs will give way to the excise, no collection will be made of next October's instalment, but in January, 1870 the first assessment under the new system will take place. The Irish Church Bill cime up before Parliament immediately alter the Easter recess. Its supporters are most anxious to Bend it up to the Lords before the end of May so as to avoid the appearance of cur tailing the time for its discussion in the ; Upper House. On the motion for going, into Committee a number of Protestant members resisted progress for several ; hours; but when they had had their say, i no member of the Ministerial side caring i to reply to their vaticinations, a majority i of liSti showed that the body, headed by ; Mr Gladstone, was as compact and deter < mined as ever. It was in vain that Mr i Kewdegate employed his most solemn i tones and gestures —fn vain that Mr I Whailey proposed that any surplus from < the property of the Disendowed Church i should be applied to the reduction of the i National Debt —in vain that &Lr Charley i announced himself as divinely appointed ( to withstand the man whom parliamentary etiquette alone prevented him from declar- c ing to be traitor to his Queen, his country, t and his Goo. On the Friday, Mr Disraeli j moved the first of his amendments, by which he sought to omit the clause of the 1 bill dissolving the legislative union be- i tweju the Churches of England and Ire- < land. Were that clause accepted, the i royal supremacy, he asserted, would be i gone, and the Protestant Church left on a i lower level than the Koinan Catholics, ' who even enjoyed a supreme head in the '. person of the Pope. After a discussion as > to what was meant by the "royal supre- « macy," the amendment was negatived by . a majority 0 f 123, freedom being thus I giveii to tue Church both for action and i organization. The next fight aro?e over t the clause which deprives the Church of i her property and dissolves her machinery t of ecclesiastical corporations, and which t appoints the Ist of January, 1871, as the j date for the transference of endowment I to the .New Commission. Here a majority . of 107 defeated the attempts to destroy, i or at least delay the enemy. This is as far ] as we have yet advanced. Should to-mor i tow's debate yield any result of importance, i I will append it to my letter. It is not oi course uut so much enthusiasm will be I Buowu or so much unanimity over the details of the bill as have been displayed < over its principles, but there are as yet no i "gas of secession in the Liberal camp. Wliiie this measure is on its way to the i higher Assembly, Lord Kunberley's Habi tUul Criminals' Dill is being sent down to tue Uuuimous. It calls upon suspicious persons to give an account of their mode ot lite, but oy some of its provisions so fcUer.) tue Judge tnat its unlikely ho will D « ablo to do justice in a large number ol ca »es. lustead of leaving punishment tuwuly to his discretion, it prescribes mi imieiy what measure shall be awarded. It a mau has been twice previously condoled of a felony, he mujt be sentenced tu peual servituue for not less than seven years. it makes no attempt to defiue What is meant by lelouy, and it allows as ev Weuce of a previous conviction the testify of any credible witness without the P'ouuution of any certified documents. i While the Saturday Jtieview has been COulouuding girls of the period with ail in contempt loftier than that °f Uie Antiquary, Parliament has been se"ously considering some of their grievauCM - The Kecorder of Loudou maao an * lo <iuuia appeal in introducing the Married Roman's Property iiill, showing that we bl "i nearly a million of marrieu women ««roiug wages, and yet wholly at tue mercy of their husbands, who migut at any moment Bweep away all their savings, nay, deprive them even of the necessaries ofj we. He quoted cases which had come bja OWa BotiC9 j a court, and begged]

that, as the fortune of the opulent bride was secured to her by a marriage settlement, so the earnings of the thrifty housewife might be guarded from the frequent rapacity of the husband. And this afternoon the old question of marriage with a deceased wife's sister cam? to a head. After a spirited debate, in the course of which Mr Bright denounced the foolish and unfair objection that the measure would " abolish sisters in-law," the second reading was carried by a decided majority of 99. When the numbers of the division were read out clapping of hands in the ladies' gallery was distinctly heard. Within the last few weeks two new Peers have been created—the one Lord Lawrence, of the Punjab and of Grately; the other, Lord Penzance, formerly Sir J. P. Wilde. In the former case, a family is raised to a permanent position, which save under happy circumstances, must prove, sooner or later, disadvantageous to its members or to the nation ; in the latter, an eminent lawyer owos his promotion to what one of the reviews described, with felicity, as "the grace of childlessness" He is, in fact, a life Peer; and on his case have been heard discussions, both in and out of Parliament, on the power which might be exerted by the House of Lords, were it replenished with men of distinctiou in some special subject, who, while not likely to obtain seats in the Lower House, might render valuable aid in thus legislat ing on the points they had respectively mastered.

The Prince and Princess of Wales have left Egypt, and are now in Greece. Their reception in Constantinople appears to have been quite in the style of the Arabian Nights of Oriental magnificence. From the Bosphorus they visited the Crimea; we received daily bulletins of their doings, the Telegraph telling us, for example, how "to day they retrace in fancy the engagement of the Alma ;" but its correspondent did not appear sufficiently in the confi dence of their Royal Highnesses to know what they thought of it. Sir Samuel Baker, who accompanied them on the Nile, has been put in command of an expedition set on foot by the Viceroy for the suppression of the iniquitous slave trade of the White Nile. From Khartoum to Gondokoro and the lakes, which it is his boast to have discovered, the Englishman is to take whatever steps seem best for the object now for the first time systematically pursued. It must be admitted, however, that those who have resided in Egypt do not share our faith in the Vicerey. They assert that he really favors the trade which ostensibly he is anxious to put down; and they remind us that every penny spent in entertaining his illustrious visitors will be squeezed from the pockets of his iudi gent people. Greatly surprised were they, and not a little amused, at the welcome he received on his recent visit to England ; no such honors are done him in his own

ountry. Prince Arthur has been spending most f the month id Ireland, attending ball.* nd reviews with equal diligence and ap>lause. Before he crossed St. George's hannel, he was found at Dover blowing lis fingers amid the rigours of an Easter Monday Volunteer Keview. Of this re iew I can speak without reference to lewspaper reports. The day was outageous; each brigade as it was vomited rora the grim doors of the railway station, vas received by the rain and drenched. Che commanding officer finding the men vet through disbanded them, and appar mtly gave up hope even of a march pasl. Lbout mid-day, however, the Duke oi Jambridge rode over from Wolmer and, he weather moderating, ordered the assembly to bo sounded, and himself rode ip to the heights, where the review and ham fight were to come off. I followed ■he regiments as thev wound up the Castle iill, and seeing a KoyaJ Standard, made or it, as the probable centre of action. iy gentle insinuation, I presently found nyself within a few yards of the Duke, Princes Arthur and Teck, besides a score >f dashing officers gaily dressed and inouued. The military correspondents of the Limes and other journals found grievous ault with the conduct of the Volunteers. Volleys were fired, it was said, when no niemy was in sight, or when he was more ;haa 1000 yards distant; companies lied ,vhen none pursued; men strayed from ;he ranks to shoot a hare, and discharged ;heir rifles from pure exuberance of spirits, Although indignant responses were evoked ay the=e attacks, it seems beyond question ;hat the discipline of the Volunteers was pery imperfect; but what can be expected when they so rarely meet fur field days when they are so apt to imagine that tneir superior intelligence renders drill unneces»ary ? During the storm at Dover, one of her Majesty's gunboats, the Ferret, broke from aer moorings and was dashed against the Admiralty Pier. The eighty lads wh, were on board her scrambled safely ashore, and in a few Lours nothing butspais showed the ruin wrought by the north-easter. The citizens of the United States are greatly irritated by the after-dinner eloquence of their representative in this country, Mr Keverdy Johnson. Determined not to be compromized by hasty utterances, they are superseding hnn, and sending in his stead Mr Joliu Dothrop Motley His long residence in Europe, where he wrote his history of the Dutch Kepubiie, and has at another Court acted as the Minister of America, is a guarantee that we shall have among us one who will understand and in a measure syuv p*thiz3 with the old country ; on the other hand, his opiuion upon the points in dispute between the United States and Great Uritaia are said to be firm and ao-

> eurafcely to express the sentiments of the • rep üblican party. The Pope has been celebrating his jubi- ; lee. Most of the Sovereigns of Europe li ave congratulated him on the occasion, •a nd among them our Queen Victoria, • g reatly to the alarm of some vigilant spirits i w lio are ready to detect on all sides inclination to that which they abhor. Pieaeaijft||aQf all sorts have flowed into the • from the quarter of a million by a Roman banker, to the ' specimens of agricultural produce sent 'by peasants. His Holiness is, we read, annoyed that so many of the presents consist of crosses, and remarked the other day "What we want is money, money, and still money." One of the most terrible tragedies of modern years was expiated yesterday at Norwich, by the execution of a criminal. Eighteen years ago a man named Sheward quarrelled suddenly on a matter of business with his wife, and ran a razor into her throat. He covered her head with an apron, and went on his errand to Yarmouth. On his return he began the horrible task of disposing of her body, which it took him a week to dismember, boil down, and scatter in different parts of the suburbs. Day by day he went to his regular work, destroying the traces of his crime only during his spare hours. Since 1851 he has borne the burden of his awful secret, and at last been forced to offer himself up to inevitable justice. After his confession he repented, and pleaded not guilty. He was, however, condemned, and has since the sentence agaia confessed. The Home Secretary declined to interfere with the course of the law, but thought it necessary to justify his refusal by publishing this late confession, albeit the unhappy man had expressly begged that not at present be made known. Directors of public companies, bank managers, Admiralty clerks, and other servants of the public continue to be arrested for false prospectuses, frauds, and forgeries. One of the most remarkable cases is that of a man named Uiggs, the book keeper in the Central Gras Company, who has abscondpd after embezzling about £IOO,OOO. His salary was only £IOO a year, yet he lived in the sfyle of a duke. He would give a church £2OOO for a new organ, set up a poor man in business, with a present of £3 JO, and build for himseli a mansion at a cost of £50,030. Nevertheless the incongruity between the re sources of that official aud his expenditure, never seems to have struck the Directors.

[FROM PAPERS BY THE APRIL MAIL.] ANGLO-AMERICAN BOAT RACE—TO TAKE PLACE IN AUGUST. Not only the lovers of inanly sports, but the whole British public will bo glad to iearn that an Anglo-American boat race has been arranged, and that it will take place in August next, upon the Thames at Pmney. The challenge has come from the other side of the ocean, and has been cordially accepted on this side. We shall all appreciate and admire the courage of our American brethren. They have sent their challenge to the victorious Oxford University Club, and are themselves coming across the osean to meet the Oxonians on the very scene of their successive triumphs. It is easy to predict for them an enthusiastic reception. The interest of the British public in such competitions has given the Oxlord and Cambridge race almost national importance ; the interest of two nations in that of August next will give it international importance. The Americans will not find that in rowing upon an English river they necessarily have the feeling of the crowd against them. They will not be reminded that they are among strangers. The multitude will feel that they have deserved success, even if they fail to attain it; and if they win, no Englishman will grudge them the laurels they have come so fur to pluck.

THE FLYING SQUADRON. The Owl states that the Flying Squadron, as at present arranged, will leave England about June 10, for Bahia, where it will be joined by the Phoebe from the West Indies ; thence to Kio de Janeiro, and on to the Cape of Grood Hope, which it will leave about the end of September for Melbourne and Sjdney, visiting New Zealand about tho middle of January, reaching Japan in March, and Vancouver's Island at ihe end of April, thence home, touching Honolulu, Tahiti, Valpariso, and the Falkland Islands, so as to reach England by the middle of uctober next year. The same juttiority says that Mc Childers and Sir Sidney Dacres will go with the Beserve fleet in the Agincourt, flying the Admiral•y A >g. and when they leave, the fleet will be commanded by Bear-Admiral Key. Rear-Admiral Hornby will bo second in command, hoisting ins flag in the Duucan. BISHOP SELWIN'S SUCCESSOR. Tho Rev. W. G>. Cowie, rec:or of Stafford, who suceeeds Dr. Selwyn in J\ew Zealand, will take the title of the " Bishop of Auckland," and not that of Bishop ot New Zealand. This indicates that other bishoprics will be created in Hevf Zealand. THE QVEREND-GURNEY PROSECUTION.

There is a probability of the Overendliurney prosecution eudiug in a breakdown. Dr. Thoin, the prosecutor, intends to conduct the prosecution himself. He wi.l have againßt nim a most formidable array of the üblest counsel that unlimited wealth can procure ; and it is hardly to be expected thai in sucii a complicated case an unprofesional man will be able to holu His own, single-handed, against them. This ease affords another argument in favor of the appointment of a public prosecutor. The trial is sure to last many days, £he

expense of counsel for the prosecution would be immense, and would fall altogether upon the prosecutor, a private individual, whose means are no doubt impaired bj the losses he has sustained.

LONDON WOOL MARKET. i Of the Wool Market, Messrs Buxton & . Hunter report under date 21st April:— i Since the close of the last sales, on the 21th i ultimo, very little has been done in this market, , and prices remain without change. Business in ; the manufacturing districts, both here and abroad is also quiet, and although the fine weather we lately had imparted more spirit to home departments, yet the position of our woollen trade generally is not satisfactory, shipping orders in particular being limited. It is anticipated that next sales will commence on the 6th proximo, and the arrivals already amount to 180,000 bales, as enumerated at foot. In addition, a further quantity of about 60,000 bales may reach port in time, thus making a total fully equal to our present wants, 240,000. On venturing an opinion as to how prices are likely to rule, it must be remembered that during last series wools were extremely low, and that this was caused to some extent by the great disinclina- ; tion of buyers to over-stock themselves in anticipation of the large quantity expected home in May. This feeling was very general, and many of those who were not in immediate want did not attend ' the sales, so that stocks, by the opening day, ought J to be short in some quarters, and therefore we do i not look for much change, although in series of j such duration fluctuations in value are sure to < occur. I

The arrivals to date consist of—Svdney and Queensland, 21,968 bales; Victoria, 93,161 j Tasmania, 3,881; South Australia, 15,138; West Australia, 1,857 ; New Zealand, 13,713 ; Cape of Good Hope, 27,929. Total, 179,930 bales. OUR FUTURE SAILORS. An interesting boat-race took place on Saturday afternoon, April 3, between four Homeless Boys of her Majesty's ship Chichester and four picked men from the Pru ; sian man-of-war paddle steamer Adler, at Grtenhithe. The course was from the Chichester, past the Adler, and round the lower swinging buoy at Greenhithe, a distance of two miles, and back to the Chichester. The lead was taken and kept throughout by the Homeless Boys, who, after a hard and exciting race, won by six boat's lengths, amid the hearty cheers oi their 200 messmates. The race was watched with great interest and anxiety by the oilicera and crew of the Prussian ironclad frigate King William, moored at Greeniiithe, who were rather surprised with the result. A challenge had previously been given by the Chichester boys to the crew of of the King William, but was notacceptod.