ENGLISH AND FOREIGN ITEMS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 14, Issue 742, 9 December 1869, Page 3

ENGLISH AND FOREIGN ITEMS.

(From the Sydney Herald King George's Sound Telegraphic Correspondent.) CONTINENTAL. FEANCE.

The Emperor's health is re-establish-ed ; he had interviews with the Earl of Clarendon, Prince Oizago, and other distinguished foreigner-*, and transacted business as usual, The Emperor has shown himself to the citizens of Paris, and has visited Longchamps; he will probably retreat o Biarritz for a few weeks.

A decree promulgating the Senatus Consultum was signed.

In defiance of the clamors ot the Paris Press for a speedy Convocation of the Chambers, the Government resolved on postponing that event till the 29th of November.

Signs of Imperialist reaction are visible.

General Henry is appointed Ambassador to Russia.

The subject of abdication is evidently being seriously discussed; the Prince Imperial is fourteen years old next May. Prince Napoleon is mentioned as Regent , or if the Emperor is succeeded by hi* son at once, Prince Napoleon would be President of the Council. All alternatives are pronounced bad. The Empress started on her long promised pilgrimage to the East on the 30th September, and had an interview with Victor Emmanuel at Venice.

Ledru Rollin's exclusion from the amnesty provokes indignant com ment. He maintains that an order to arrest him sent to the sea ports on the night of the amnesty being signed. His friends offer to become bail that he may stand his trial.

Great excitement was produced by a horrible tragedy at Panton, near Paris. A whole family named Kb.ick were massacred and buried in a field. The crime was first ascribed to the husband and eldest son 7 but the assassin proved to be a

man named Tropman, a mechanic, who had worked for the murdered people. He was captured at Havre, with tide deeds on his person, attempting to escape to America. Seven bodies were discovered. That of Khick, sen., is still missing.

The Paris Hippodrome was destroyed by fire. SPAIN. The Duke of Genoa is studying at Harrow. He is the latest candidate for the Throne. Formidable opposition is expected to his election.

The month was marked with many revolutionary movements, which commenced with a pacific de monstration in the large towns. At Tarragona affairs resulted in a tra gedy; the republican procession marched through the city with flags, '' bearing unconstitutional devices; the acting Governor interfered, and, while remonstrating with General Pierrad has since been arrested and land imprisoned. The clubs are closed and the Volunteers disbanded. Barcelona caught the infection; there an an attempt to disarm was resisted, and barricades were erected, but the insurgents were routed after a sanguinary struggle. The insurrection has since extended to Catalonia, Arragon, and Andalusia. The telegraph lines were cut, the railways were torn up, and martial law was proclaimed. American interference with Cuban affairs has kindled great excitement throughout Spain. America seems inclined to hedge, and has withdrawn her offer of mediation, but encourages the insurgents by holding out hopes of independence. Fre*h troops have been sent to Cuba in nineteen war ships. The Spanish Bishops have been authorised by the Pope to swear fidelity to the new Constitution. BELGIUM. The rifle shooting at Liege was a grand success. About 1,000 English Volunteers were present, besides French, Swiss, Prussian, and Austrian contingents. At the long ranges the British marksmen were most successful. ITALY. The contract for the loan on security of the ecclesiastical property is concluded.

The Italian fleet under Prince Amadeus visited Alexandria; it is supposed to be a demonstration against Turkey. A strong shock of earthquake and an eruption of Vesuvius was reported. Venice was illuminated in honor of the Empress Eugenie passingthrough. The OEcumenical Council excites European interest. The Catholic Powers decline to send representatives, and reserve full liberty of action whatever the decision of the Council may be. The German Bishops warn the Pope of the perils of proclaiming the Syllabus announcing his infallibility and repudiating modern civilisation. They are, consequently denounced as heretics.

Prussia, Austria, and other Powers are in friendly relations. Between Prussia and Austria mutual princely visits taken place. The Prussian Parliament opened on the sth. Additional taxation was announced.

The Crown Prince of Prussia will attend the opening of the Suez Canal.

During the festivals of the King's visit to Konigsburg, a railway accident occurred which caused the death fourteen persons, and a wooden theatre was burnt down. The Cracow Convent case will shortly come before the tribunal. A public meeting at Pesth de ruands the suppression of monasteries in Hungary. DENMARK. The Danish Rigsdad has opened; the King hopes that Prussia -would ultimately do justice in the Schleswig affairs. The International Association of "Working Men held their fourth Congress at Basle; there were sixty delegates present. A declaration in favor of abolishing individual property in the soil was carried by 54 majority. Victor Hugo presided. The association aims at industrial federation in Europe,

TURKEY. The Sublime Porte lias modified its demands on the Viceroy of Egypt. The dispute is not yet terminated; an Envoy has been sent to the Czar. Egyptian independence is coldly received. M. Lesseps was f teamed through the entire Suez Canal in fifteen hours.

INDIA AND THE EAST. The Galle telegraph, has been in a constant state of interruption. Telegrams are now sent via Russia. Some mail steamers of the Messageries Imperiales passed through the Suez Canal. The tariff of transit charges is published. Several European Companies and one American are projected to take a.l vantage of the new route between Europe and the East to Calcutta. Lord Napier, of Magdala, is ap pointed Commander-in-Chief of the Bengal army. Official intimation has been given that no durbar will be held at Agra on the visit of (he Duke of Edinburgh, on account of the distress t.'iat would be occasioned by so great a gathering at the present time. Large tracts of country in the Rajpootana have been devastated by locusts, and in some places not a green thing is left. The prospects of the cotton crop in Central India are favorable; the area under cultivation is extend-

mg. A. son of Tippoo Sultan proposes to devote R 160,000 to found charities for Christians, Mohammedans, and Hindoos in Bengal. Calcutta was visited by a cyclone on October 7th; no great damage was done.

The note circulation in India reached half that of the Bank of England last year j it afforded considerable profit to the Government, The Burmese merchants are seeking to obtain the repeal of the export duties on rice, to enable them to compete with the free ports. It is believed that the Indian Government intend to take over the railways and telegraphs throughout India.

BOMBAY. Serious disturbances have taken, place amongst the tribes on the shores of the Persian Gulf. More than 200 Europeans had died of cholera at Peshawur. Several passengers by the lost P. and 0. Company's ship Carnatic have been examined as witnesses, and their evidence forwarded to the Board of Trade; the captain and officers are ordered home to attend an inquiry to be held in London. It appears unaccountable how the accident occurred. The conduct of Captain Jones, in neglecting to land the passengers and mails, meets with the strongest censure here and in England. Intelligence respecting Dr Livingstone being at Ugirri is confirmed; in February he was at Lake Panganinia well, but short of provisions. All his Europeans had deserted him.

The silk crop in Persia is a total failure. JAPAN. October 8. The Austrian Minister is negociating a treaty between Austria and Japan. The telegraph is in working order between the dockyard and head-quar-ters at Yokohama. CHINA. . October 19. The Dnke of Edinburgh left Tien Tsin for Pekin, where he will stay seven days. The Austrian treaty was signed on the 22nd September, after many delays on the part of the Chinese. Another outrage has occuireJ at Formosa; two Europeans were killed ai-d one wounded. [ The cultivation of opium in China is said to be rapidly increasing; the j trade is licensed by the Govern ment although prohibitions against it remain in force.

A. daring piratical attempt was made on the barque Atenracle off Macao, and the captain and second officer were wounded, and one of the crew was k lied. A pirate junk had been captured by a Portuguese gunboat.

ssß Ii*WP;S £»N I&W BYRON. We have hjtherto refrained from noticing ihe scandalous f story of Lord JOyron's life " published by Mrs Stowe fu Maemillari's Magazine, in order ■that we might see what had to be said in its contradiction ; and we are glad £o say that she has failed to prove her assertions, and that a good case has jiboen made out by the defenders of the poet and his sister. The best summary we have seen of Mrs Stowe's charge is given by the London correspondent of £he Sydney Morning Herald, who writes of it in the following terms: —"A new 'sensation' has lately risen up. Mrs Beecher Stowe, the authoress of * Uncle Tom's Cabin,' a thrilling tale of negro life, &c, has written, in a recent number of MacmMan's Magazine, an article professing to be the true history of the life pf Lord Byron. She founds her statements of the same upon some intimacy with the late Lady Byron, and an alleged written statement given to her by the same to read, and which she says she did read whilst in a great state of excitement some thirteen years ago, and returned to Lady Byron. Upon this slender foundation Mrs Stowe says that the true cause of the separation of Lord and Lady Byron was the knowledge possessed by the latter that her husband was carrying on an incestuous intercourse with his jhalf-sister Augusta. The matter has been the chief subject of private conversation everywhere, and Mrs Stowe is condemned for her sensational article, and her want of taste and decency, as well as breach of confidence. Defenders of Lord Byron have sprung up jn all directions, but the stab and its sting cannot be wholly removed. The lawyers to Lady Byron and her family say that under her will all papers of every kind have been sealed up and placed in the hands of trustees." The Australasian, in a long and able review of the subject, remarks: — " As to the charge against Lord Byron, the very statement of it is its best confutation. Profligate, daring, unscrupulous, as the man is admitted to have been, he must have been something more than a fiend to have done what was charged against him. He must have been a fool, of a folly in compatible with any perfection in wickedness. W<9 need scarcely ask whether the story is credible. We ask, Is it even consistent with itself ? Is it probable even as an invention ? Does it hold together by its parts ? Let us consider what it is we are asked to believe. The subject of Mrs Beecher Stowe's horrible calumny was Augusta. Lord Byron's halfsister, born some si? or seven years before himself, and therefore, at the period in question (1815), a mature woman of some thirty-three or thirtyfour years of age. (Lord Byron himself was born in 1788.) She was married at this time to Colonel Leigh, and was the mother of several children. Up to the publication of Mrs Beecher Stowe's article, not a single whisper had ever been breathed of any undue intimacy between the brother and sister, although many pens have been employed by his enemies to rake up matter of accusation against Lord Byron. The whole tenor of Lord Byron's known intercourse with his sister is opposed to the idea pf any incestuous connexion. The prurient imagination of the American authoress has indeed discovered hints and allusions to the filthy crime in Byron's poems, but we doubt whether there are half-a-dozen other intelligent persons in the world, men or women, who could read ' Manfred' or ' Cain' in such a light. The direct references made in Lord Byron's poems are among the most touching and beautiful things in his works, and we cannot envy the soul of the creature who can conceive the idea of incest in such lines as these : —■

My sister, my sweet sister! If a name, Dearer and purer were, it should be thine; Mountains and seas divide us, but I claim No tears, but tenderness to answer mine. Go where I will, to me thou art the same— A loved regret which I would not resign. There yet are two things in my destiny— A world to roam through and a home with thee. The first were nothing; had I still the last It were the haven of my happiness ; But other claims and other ties thou hast, And mine is not the wish to make them less. A strange doom is thy father's son's, and past [Recalling, as it lies beyond redress. Reversed for him our grandsire's fate of yore—|le had no rest at sea, nor I on shore." With reference to, the sister of jjjord Byron, uj)on whorn Mrs Stowe

has attempted to .cast so foul a blot, the Athenseum observes :—" So long as nothing is proved of what has been asserted, a reservation of judgment is the merest justice to the parties implicated. The memory of one of them, Mrs Leigh, is sacred in the hearts of her two daughters, by whom she was as fondly loved when living as she is now revered being dead. Her retired, gentle, pure and modest life when she resided —by favor, we believe, of Queen Adelaide —in St. James's Palace, is still a cherished theme with surviving friends. God help those daughters, for whom human sympathy alone will not suffice ! We refrain from inserting correspondence on this matter, the writers, for the most part, com municating only their opinions and convictions. We wait for light; and we sincerely wish that the commercial atmosphere did not closely envelope the relation. We are ready to believe in Mrs Stowe's high principles, and we hope to hear from her a denial that she has touched honorarium for the story she has told. We are quite sure she holds, with all moralists, that gold unworthily earned leaves a stain indelible."