English and foreign Intelligence.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 79, 13 July 1868, Page 167

English and foreign Intelligence.

We take the following items from late pa pers to hand by the [English mail

A gentleman of the name of Johnstone, who dates from Burleigh-street, W C., is entreating English laymen and clergymen in our Church to sign a long narrow strip of paper addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, on whieh is printed a declaration. that the undersigned renounce all Christian communion with Dr. Colenso, until such time as he repents of his errors. We suppose that the Bishop of London and all who refuse to sign this Blip of paper—the Bishop of London told Dr. G-ray he was in. communion with the Bishop of Natal-will be subsequently held up to opprobium as sympathising with heresy. Mr Hope Johnstone asks not only for signatures, but stamps.. Eor ous own parts, without, agreeing with Hie Bishop of Natal, we intend to put the slip of paper into the fire, and to send no stamps to 11 Bur leigh-street, W.C. We venture to disagree very profoundly, not only with the Bishop of Natal, but several other English Bishops, on various theological points; but as far as we can see, there are few better Christians on the bench, as regards the spirit of Christian charity and zeal by which they are possessed, than Dr. Colenso ; and if we were to cut ourselves off from communion with him, we should be soon embarked in a most hopeless attempt to construct a debtor and creditor account of Christian failings and graces for all the other Bishops of the English Church—a .task to which the labors of Hercules would be a trifle. Spectator, March 21.

. Miles W etherill, the Todmorden murderer, was tried on Saturday, convicted, and sentenced to death. No new evidence was produced at the trial, and the only defence attempted was, that the unprovoked brutality of the murders proved insanity itself—the most dangerous of conceivable doctrines. Mr Plow’s funeral was followed to the grave by 2,000 of his neighbors, and his own father preached the funeral sermon. This sermon has given rise to some severe comments, the Rev. H. A. Plow calling on Todmorden to set apart a day of humiliation, lest the vengeance of the Lord should come upon them for the murder of a priest. The murder of the housemaid clearly was a trifle; but, apart from that forgetfulness which might be natural in a father, what an idea Mr Plow must have formed of the goodness of the Almighty! Miles Wetherill murdered a clergyman, consequently vengeance must fall upon the town which assisted the victim and detests the murderer. We talk of justices’ justice, but it is equity compared with the justice of priests.—lbid. On Wednesday, Mr J. A. Smith brought on the curious debate on his proposal to restrict the hours for opening public-houses on Sunday. He proposes to abolish altogether the opening of public-houses for drinking on the premises on Sunday, and to restrict the hours in which the sale of beers and spirits' over the counter should he lawful, to four hours on the Sunday, between half-past twelve and half-past two, and then again in- the evening between eight and ten. In London, however, he proposed to apply a less Btringent rule. Mr Locke and. Mr Roebuck spoke with great bitterness against the proposal, and in favor of the working man’s liberty to go to a public-house whenever he' pleased. But almost all the true representatives of the working class, Mr Hughes, Mr Melly, and others, were in favor of the Bill, and in favor of it, as they said, on the ground that their constituents were anxious for it. In London, on the contrary, there seemed to be some fear that it might provoke a riot-—but whether the fear was a fear of the roughs, instigated by the licensed victuallers, or of the genuine working class, was not very easy to make out. Anyhow, the bill was shelved by being read a second time, and then referred to a select committee, and will probably not go on this year. There is some timidity about it in the minds of sensitive legislators, and they probably want to know what the new constituencies will instruct them to do.—lbid. The Poor Law Board has at length given its verdict uppn the investigation

into the facts disclosed by the report of the Imnoet Commissioner of Inquiry. By dint of accepting every statement of the accused, Dr. Lambert and Dr. E. Smith, the Poor .Law Inspectors have contrived to explain some of the Lancet’s facts, and Lord Devon has just passed judgment'on their report alone He admits that there is no trustworthy nurse; that the dayrocm for aged men is too small; that further accommodation is needed for infectious cases ;■ that the lying in ward is “ quite inadequate,”—just think what that gentle phrase means ; —that the ventilation of the venereal and other wards is “ objectionable ; thas the towels are insufficient ; that the vagrant wards are unsuitable; that the privies are untrapped; that the cesspool is too near the infirmary; and that there has been no constant or minute supervision by ihe guardians ; and, therefore, the Earl of Devon censures Mr Powell, the medical officer, whose statements, to the Lancet Commissionersbrought rtie disgraceful facts he admits to light. That is all the poor get out of that inquiry —a formal wigging to the only official in B arnham humane enough to tell the truth. And then people wonder that the country begins to weary of a Parliament which, with its endless chatter about everything, will not find five minutes’ time to tell the Earl of Devon that he has refused to do his duty.—lbid.

There is evidently a very serious idea of asking Parliament for an Irish establishment for the Prince of Wales. It is asserted, we believe with truth, that his residence in the island for a few months in every year is much desired by Irishmen,' and the Times points out with force one direct benefit it would, be to the country. Ireland would be as fashionable for tourists, sportsmen, and money-spenders generally as Scotland now is. We do nob suppose that either party in this State wouldstrongly resist a project acceptable to Ire-: laud,, and the money is of little consequence; but it is a > ity that the affair should have any color of a bargain. It is a curious proof of the way we have treated Ireland for centuries, that there is not, and never has been, a palace there.—lbid. The Bishop of Lichfield is bringing out all the qualities which made him fatuous in New Zealand. At a place called Talk-o’-the-Hill, in North Staffordshire, he has just.illustrated one of these qualities. On entering the Church he found that admissiou.was by ticket, and that the colliery portion of the population, for whose use the sacred edifice was mainly built, iu consequence, virtually excluded—did not suit a man of Bishop Selwyn’s temper, and so, after reading service, his Lordship deliberately walked from the pulpit to the porch of the Church, and there preached to the colliers who had gathered in the churchyard.— Christian World, April 10. The Earl of Derby, the late Premier, is so much improved in health that he has been able to visit the Exhibition of National Portraits at South Kensington. Mr C. J. Dallas, writing from the [Reform Club, London, says, that a projection is on foot in Australia to supercede the Panama route for postal purposes, and substitute Son Francisco on the completion of the Atlantic and Pacific Railway—which will be a saving of 700 miles to Wellington and be in the route of Tahiti.

Prince Henry, brother of the Ring of bpain, has joined the Freemasons. By this act he would have exiled himself (Free masonry being forbidden iu Spain), even if had not been exiled before for political reasons.

The Howard Association, instituted under the patronage of Lord Brougham for the promotion of the best methods of penal treatmentand crime prevention, have issued a circular urging the necessity for an inquiry into the subject of prison dietary and general treatment.

A beautiful stone tablet, in memory of the victim of the Hyde-road outrage has been erected in St. Barnabas’s Church, Rodney-street Manchester.. The inscription is as follows:—“ Erected by the minister and congregation, in memory of Charles Brett, police-sergeant, of this city, who for many years worshipped in this church, until he fell at the post of duty, a victim of the violence of sedition, on the 18th. September, 1867. A faithful man. Though proffered life, he choso a cruel death rather than betray his trust.” Sergeant Brett was a regular attendant at the church and had earned the respect and esteem of all the congregation. The American citizens at Panama have petitioned the Government at Washington for protection.- For ten years, they say, justice has been denied them, and that unless protected they may be forced to take retaliation into their own hands.

Sir Robert Napier, the Commander-in Chief of the Abyssinian Expeditionary Force, has been duly Gazetted a G.C.8., and will receive the usual pension for three lives, and is named as the successor to Sir William Mansfield, as oommander-in-Cbief in India. ”

Yesterday morning, Ist May, {says the Home News) a porter named Wells, aged 16 or 17, employed at the Priory Station of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, murdered the Btation-master, whose name is Walsh. Walsh was about to report Wells for having fired off a pistol the evening before at the station, and the lad exhibited a good deal of excitement. He went into the office and whilst the stationmaster was sitting at his desk, presented

the pistol and shot him dead on the spot. Wells was immediately taken into custody. •Lord Gough, who had been seriously ill at his residence, St Helen’s, Booterstown Dublin, is now out of immediate danger.

The rebuilding of Her Majesty’s Theatre will be commenced in about a fortnight, the site being nearly cleared. The designs have been approved of by her Majesty’s Commissioners of Woods and Forests, the site being Crown property.

The Albert Memorial Museum at Exeter, which has been erected at a cost of £12,000, was opened on April 20, and there was a grand fancy fair, besides a host of festivities in celebration of the event.

The rectory of Todmorden, which became vacant by the death of the Rev. A. J Plow, B.D. (mu-dered by Miles Wetherhill), has been conferred upon the Rev Reynell F. Moles worth, M.A., of Brase nose College, Oxford, lecturer of Bideforcl. The Rev. B. Speke, who has quite recovered, has returned to his vicarage, and undertaken the duties.

The South London Press says that William Roupell will shortly be released from the Portland Convict Prison. His health has severely suffered during his punish ment, and his return to the world—brokendown and despised —will be a bitter disci pline for some who, it is rumored, were morally as criminal as he.