ENGLISH NEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 58, 14 February 1852, Page 2

ENGLISH NEWS.

At the time when our latest arrivals left the old country, every one in it was making" holiday, except those whom dive necessity or delusion chained to their allotted tasks. The Queen, who is always the first object of an Englishman's public idolatry, and who was last heard of amid the mountain and glen scenery of Aberdeenshire, had resigned its poetry for the more prosaic associations of the region of manufacture and mercantile enterprise, and was making her progress through Lancashire. The route brought '.he royal party first to the ancient borough of Lancaster. The ceremonies of addresses and kissing hands being over, the Queen inspected the Castle keep, and then proceeded to Cruxteth Hall, the seat of the Earl and Countess of Sefton, where she rested for the night. Liverpool, that northern London, was next visited by Her Majesty. The last occasion of a royal visit to Liverpool was in the Reign of William 111., upwards of 160 years ago, but how different the. circumstances! Then, it was to conciliate a people, many of whom regarded their visitor as an usir.per, while the rest were naturally doubtful, though hopeful, of the real benefits to result from the change of sovereigns. Now, to experience the homage of a people established in peace, and practising its arts, loyal and full of heroic affection for their queen. The weather was, however, not so propitious as it usually is, and the rain fell heavily, notwithstanding which Her Majesty took a cruise of an hour upon the Mersey in the "Fairy" steam-yacht, gaining thereby a view of the vast maritime resources of Liverpool. After the presentation of an address in the Town Hall, the honour of knighthood was conferred upon the Lord Mayer, and her Majesty proceeded by the London and North Western-Railway-to Particroft, and along the Bridgewater Canal in a state barge to Worsley, the residence of the Earl of Ellesmere, where she was greeted, among other manifestations, with the cheers of 4,000 or 5,000 men employed on the Eilesmere estates, with their families. After dining, the Queen visited Sal ford, the Peel Park, (where the children of the national schools sung the national ( anthem.) at.d Manchester, conferred upon the Mayor of Manchester, John Potter, Esq., the dignity of knighthood, and returned to Worsley Hall, whence she departed on the following morning for Windsor. Among the many incidents of this progress, it may be mentioned that while the queen was at Worsley, Mr. Stake, the patentee of the electric light, attended, and threw a bright moon into the shade by his brilliant illumination of the atmosphere. The Exhibition:—The provincial journals narrate, prior to the closing of the Exhibition, numerous instances of extravagant enthusiasm on the part of people determined to see it it any cost. One pawnbroker at Gloucester received in pawn no less than 100 wedding-rings and ten beds, the proceeds of each being'inten'ded to defray the expeiices of a trip to London. The Custom-House authorities anticipate an arduous task in repacking the foreign goods. They came over in about 12,000 packages, from 3,000 or 4,000 different workshops, and must now be .repacked in a given time. About one fourth of die whole will find purchasers in England. Two notable additions were made to the United States' department. The first was the Maynard primer, a substitution for the percussion cap, which is simply a coil of paper, at intervals in which spots of detonating powder are placed. The action of the doghead carries out from the chamber in which it is contained, this cheap and self-acting substitute for the ordinary gun apparatus, which is a vast economy in expeiice as well as in time. In its character the invention is one which admits of being easily adapted to every description of tire-arms at present commonly in use, and that at a trifling cost . The other addition was a service of gold plate, presented to Mr. Collins, xt Ste!S l mivi"atio" celebrity, by the city of JSew York, and the metal composing which was, only three months a-ro, still lyin° undiscovered in the dig-ings of California. " Within that^period the gold lms been found, brought to New York, and manufactured without alloy by Messrs. Ball, Toinkins, and Black, into a series of articles highly creditable to their good taste. There is nothing in the Exhibition at all comparable to the auriferous brilliancy of colour which this Californian plate possesses.

The Custom House valuation of the service is 1,000/. One of the patent bank locks wliicli Mr. Hobbs recommends is at present in the hands of an expert English mechanic, who is endeavouring1 to pick it. Mr. Hobbs has, it is said, afforded to our countryman every facility that was at all reasonable, and has eren handed over to him another lock exactly similar to that on which he is operating-, in order that he may have the most complete means for examiningthe principle on which it is constructed. Punch asks if the Koh-i-Noor is safe while Mr. Hobbs is in the country. Mr. Bennett, of Cheapside, who placed forty of his standard thermometers in various parts of the building-, has published an account of the variations of the temperature therein, made from numerous observations. During- the month of May and for a part of June the mean temperatures continued belowtheir average values as much as 4 (leg. Fahrenheit; on the 19th of June there was a sudden rise, amounting- to 10 deg. This was a shilling day, with 63,863 visitors, and matters continued to grow worse till the 26th, when the mean temperature was 786, or two degrees above summer heat. On tbat day, at 4 p.m., the thermometer at the north-east corner of the gallery, among the wax flowers, registered 97-. In consequence of the inconvenience and suffering to which the heated state of the atmosphere gave rise, vigorous means were adopted in order to secure better ventilation, and with such success, that since the 7th of July,, when the changes made were completed, the temperature of the building has been well under the control of the authorities. The Executive Committee had given the Messrs. Dickinson, of New Bond-streef, permission to exhibit a most brilliant series of sketches, made for them by Mr. Nash, and forming part of a large collection, in the preparation of which Mr. Lewis Hague, and Mr. David Roberts, It. A., are also associated. These sketches are intended to perpetuate the aspect of the different portions of the building, without relation to specific objects, now that the whole display has terminated, and, as they will be lithographed in colours, the internal arrangements and-most striking pictorial effects of the Exhibition will thus be preserved with a fidelity for which the names of the artists employed afford a sufficient guarantee. The work of destruction has fairly commenced, and already a great quantity of the richest and most valuable of the more portable articles are removed, and the fittings are rapidly disappearing from the more prominent positions. The first removal was the crystal fountain, to make way for the erection of the platform on which the final act of the Royal Commission in immediate connexion with the Exhibition itself was to be enacted; and soon the removals became almost painfully apparent. Landing stages for goods are erected at all the doors, and carriages, hackney-coaches, and omnibusses, give way to carts and waggons exteriorly, while order, silks, and broadcloth, are replaced by disorder and fustian jackets. The complete work of clearing the building will take some time, but the rapidity with which the work has been commenced promises to shorten it very considerably. The closing was not permitted to be of so very ordinary and business-like a character as certainly was intended by the authorities, although they subsequently sanctioned an arrangement by which all the organs should at a given signal commence playing "God save the Queen " at five o'clock, and a corps of the singers was extemporised, and a good effect was produced by this spontaneous outbreak of feeling. Every one seemed unwilling to give up his place in the building, and it took a considerable time to clear it, notwithstanding the persevering efforts of the bell-ringers and gongplayers, the latter of whom thrashed their instruments with more than usual energy. On the last day but one 46,913 persons entered the building, and the receipts were 4914 J. is. fid.; and on the last, the numbers were 53,061 visitors. The total receipts, in round numbers, reach 500,000?., and the number of visitors amounts to six millions. There is one little fact which does not redound to the credit of the well-to-do classes, and that is, that 90/. in bad money was taken at the doors, with the exception of one half-sovereign, entirely in half-crowns, no bad shillings having been taken, or so few as not to be worth naming. This hitter fact is a most significant proof of honesty in the humbler classes, whilst the former tells

fearfully against the want of it in those who know and ought to do better. „

The weather was most unpropitious: this, together with the absence of her Majesty, whom everybody seemed determined to expect should be present, although it was distinctly announced that she would not be, tended to cast a degree of gloom over the business which accorded with the feelings of many who were present. The rush for tickets of admission showed how earnestly every one felt, in their desire to bid adieu to so much that had tended to enlighten, instruct, and gratify them; and this was fully confirmed by the numbers who were present iv spite of the weather. As regards th e:\2sre.mony itself little can be said, inasmuch Jys .•/?&. was nothing more than the recognition a>' principle, and was got over as rapidly, and with as little formality, as, circumstances would allow.: That thanksgiving which was urged as a fitting completion of the prayer and blessing of the Ist of May, was duly rendered, and the silent and respectful attention of more than 50,000 persons, whilst it was offered up by the Bishop of London, was spmetbing worth seeing and remembering, in connexion with the marked success which has attended this great undertaking. The final visits of her Majesty, the Prince, and the youthful Princes and Princesses, proved most conclusively, if required, the deep interest they took in the Exhibition. It was only at 12 o'clock on Tuesday, when the exhibitors and their privileged friends were rapidly filling the building, that her Majesty and the Prince, accompanied by the Princesses, took their final leave of a display from which they have derived so much gratification and instruction ; and through which they have been enabled to knit still closer those ties of affection which so happily bind them to the people. The exhibitors' days were marked by much intensity of examination. There was no lounging; every one seemed determined to see all he could during the brief time allowed for doing so ; and certainly many persons contrived to see much more than they had ever befoidr seen in one day. Every one now seems desirous to get rid.^i all responsibilities as quickly as possible. The jury reports are rather flung before the public than properly presented. The organization for the removal of the goods seems calculated to make very quick, if not very sure, work of. the distribution, and in a i'exv weeks all will be a memory of the past. Whether the palace itself was to share the fate of its contents, was long a doubtful and an interesting question. We believe that all doubt is now at an end upon this point, and that although the press, with a rare unanimity, was loudly and earnesly in favour of retaining it as a permanent addition to the few public buildings in London of which an Englishman cares to boast, and although the people were convinced that such an act of Vandalism as its demolition was so incredible that they did not even take the trouble to petition or remonstrate against the designs or whims of the few who entertained a contrary opinion—the building must come down. The fiat of destruction appears to have gone forth, and we suppose that in a few months the glittering palace of iron and glass, the most unique and remarkable building in the world, will be as entirely a thing of the past, as the ice-palace of the Empress of Russia tliat thawed in the summer sun, or the hanging garden and glittering halls of a Babylon, shorn of its glory three thousand years ago. The sale of the Illustrated News has increased since the opening of the Exhibition'by 20,000 copies. Dining the period it has published no less than 773 engravings of various scenes and articles. One of its supplements alone cos!. £1200. ,^V The Arctic Expedition.—The lllmiiatcd News says, " A ray of hope has broken in upon the darkness which has so long surrounded the fate of the gallant Sir John Franklin and his companions. Expedition after expedition has returned, bringing no news of the wanderers, or only such scanty and indefinite informations*,^ served to defer hope and make the heart sio\£>' But more positive intelligence has at length been gained. The brave mariners have not been found ; but it has been proved almost beyond the possibility of a doubt, that the great Arctic Ocean has been discovered, that Sir John Franklin has sailed into it, that, in confirmation of a supposition entertained long since, this vast Polar .Sea enjoys a milder temperature than the Arctic re»ions previously known, and that it

abourids with animal life. Under these circumstances, despair for the safety of these gallant men is clearly premature. tl.T\ie information on which this hope is founded was brought by Captain Penny, of Captain Austin's expedition, and is of a date considerably later than the accounts which appeared in our journal of last week. That our readers may fully comprehend the importance of the intelligence, we shall recapitulate as succinctly as we can, the efforts hitherto made, and the course taken by the last expeditions which were sent to the "rescue. When he left England on this

memorable, and let us earnestly hope, this not altoijjikhei- fatal enterprize, Sir. John Franklin -. '^fityed from the Admiralty instructions as to course he should pursue. In the first instance he was to proceed through Barrow's Straits as far as Cape Walker, at the western extremity of that chaltofil^jand from thence endeavour, by sailing in a south-westerly direction, to reach Beh ring's Strait. In case of his inability to discover a channel in the direction mdi

cated, he was directed to retrace his course

down Barrow's Strait as far as Wellington Channel, and try a north-western route to the desired point—Behring's Strait. It seems reasonable to believe that the gallant officer met with no casualty which could have swept him and his whole expedition away without leaving a trace behind, at so early a point of his attempt as the entrance to Barrow's Strait. Presuming that he sailed in safety so far, and that he carried his first instructions into effect, Barrow's Strait was thoroughly searched by the English, if not by the American Expedition—though on this latter point we are not over confident—and no traces whatever were discovered. Not only as far westward as Cape Walker, the point named, but to Banks's Land, a considerable distance beyond it, was examined, and the result was, that no opening could be discovered by which Sir John Franklin could have sailed to the south-west. The country is justified in believing, therefore, that, having proceeded as far as he could in that direction, he retraced his course, as instructed ; ntJnd that the south-westerly passage having been proved to be impracticable, he tried the nortliw^esterly one. If there could be any duubt on this point, it is set at rest by the discovery of palpable traces of the expedition at a place called Cape lliley, at the entrance of Wellington Channel, which branches off to the north-west at the very point mentioned in Sir John Franklin's instructions. It is-known that Sir John and his crew passed the winter of 1845-46 at this place, and it is supposed,—and Captain Penny's researches go far to strengthen the supposition—that immediately on the break up of the ice in 1846, Sir John proceeded in the second route indicated, and reached the Great Arctic Ocean, of which Captain Penny is now able to affirm the existence.

" Captain Penny started northward from the neighbourhood of Cape Riley last winter, or more properly speaking, in the early spring; and travelled in sledges over the ice for a distance of nearly two hundred miles. Some other parties, despatched by Captain Austin, travelled still further by the same means. Captain Penny ascertained that Wellington Channel, not very far from its entrance, bends suddenly to the north-west, the very route supposed to exist, and which Sir John, failing in his first effort, was expressly ordered to take ; and pursuing his course for ISO miles from the junction of the channel with Barrow's Strait, he found the ice soft and unsafe, and as we are informed by a daily contemporary, "discovered an open sea, with innumerable flocks of birds, Asiatic animals, drift wood, and'vavious other signs of a more clement climate." He also saw for sixty miles beyond him " a clear, unobstructed ex-

-sganse of water," which he named the Queen yietorin. Channel. Long1 and ardently we must suppose the hardy sailor gazed upon the prospect before him, hut as his further progress along che shores of this tempting1 sea was impossible, from the state of the sea, he was reluctantly compelled to return as he came. But, with the characteristic vigour of his profession ■fyfiii his country, he was still undaunted. He travelled 180 miles back to his ship, and procured a boat, which he conveyed by sledges, after much dillicuky, to the'shores of that clear northern sea which seemed to invite his researches. But bis gallant effort was doomed to be disappointed. When he reached tho spot where the prospect had first opened out before him, he found large masses of ice drifting- into the shores from the north-west, with a strong wind and a heavy sea. It would have been

mildness to have risked such a passage in a small boat, and with only a week's provisions. Captain Penny therefore turned back a second time, perhaps with a heavy, certainly with a hopeful heart, for lie is now in London, urging upon the Government, with all the eloquence and zeal of which he is master, the duty of immediately dispatching a powerful steamer to the new point thus indicated.

Political.—Duncan Dunbar, Esq., the Protectionist ship owner, is spoken of m likely to come forward at the next election for the representation of the borough of Sundevland.

Among1 the great questions of the day, it is said that of National Education is making greater progress than any other. In Ireland, the Roman Catholic laity are beginning to avail themselves of the " godless colleges " in greater numbers and with increased boldness, notwithstanding the fulminations of the hierarchy. In addition to the two rival schemes for the education of the English people propounded at Manchester, a third has been issued from the same place, framed by the Congregational Dissenters upon the principle of voluntaryism. The difficulty, however, in this system seems to be this, that what is practicable in Manchester maybe impossible elsewhere, and that many rural districts would doubtless grovel in ignorance under the voluntary system, while the centres of wealth and population were thriving independently of any compulsory arrangement.

The proceedings of the Parliamentary Committee on the Law of Mortmain were beginning1 to engage very deeply the attention of thinking men, who generally regard the prosecution of these enquiries as infinitely more important than the discussions which took place on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill; considering the investigation as more calculated than that piece of legislation to amputate the dead hand and destroy the bone-house of priestcraft.

The reform of the Customs department seems to be fast ripening for legislation, which it is to be hoped it will meet in the ensuing session; and so bring to their reckoning a band of functionaries who have not hitherto suffered the punishment of brigands, only because their conduct however violent or offensive, was susceptible of some colourable excuse from the letter of the law. There can he no effectual remedy, it is considered, while such an infinity of trifling articles are subject to duty. It has been demonstrated that more than nine-tenths of the Customs duties are paid upon about eleven different articles of great bulk and prime necessity, whilst an insignificant proportion of the sum total is raised upon several hundreds of commodities, all of which give rise to expence and vexation in the collection.

Lord Palmerston had availed himself of the leisure of the recess to pay a visit to his constituents, in the picturesque little borough of Tivevton, which he has represented for the last sixteen years. At a grand dinner given to him on the occasion, his Lordship, after referring" to the revolutionary convulsions amid which England had stood unshaken, reverted to the Exhibition and its crowds from all nations, and said :

" That which strikes all these foreigners the most is, not the variety of splendid works of human genius and constructive ingenuity in the building— not the building itself, which is, perhaps, still more remarkable than anything in it—but the order which prevails in every part of our country to which they may have happened to penetrate. And while they are admiring this remarkable order, tfsey say, ' We see no military, no gendarmes with muskets and bayonets, no display of armed force to preserve order. We see nothing but a few policemen dangling a bit of a stick in their hands, very civil, very anxious to help us, to show us our way, and to give us information respecting anything which we want to look at. 1 The great marvel, then, of this great country to our foreign visitors, and I have had ample opportunities of learning their opinions, is the admirable order which our population preserves."

Speaking of the repeal of Roman Catholic disabilities, he said :—

"They (the Roman Catholics) have lately, I know, in spite of that, reproached us with intolerance and oppression, because we refused to permit a "foreign sovereign to dispense honours and titles in this realm, and to cut up and quarter our territory into bishoprics at his own will and pleasure —(Cheers) —thereby encroaching upon the prerogative of our Queen, and trenching upon the independence of our country. In all other re.■ spects they were placed upon the same footing; as the Protestants ; and I cannot help expressing a wish, that the same degree of intolerance and persecution of which they complain was the degree in

which Protestants experience persecution and intolerance in some Catholic countries of Europe, (Loud cheers.) In those countries Protestanism is an offence—the inculcation of Protestant doctrines is a crime—the Bible is denounced as a dangerous book—no man is allowed to read it, and wherever it is found it is regarded as an evidence of crime. I am now speaking of the south of Europe, of Rome, of Naples, of Tuscany, of Spain, and of Portugal. I must do the northern countries of Europe the justice of saying that they are exceptions to this practice ; and that in France, in Belgium, and even in Austria, a far more liberal system prevails. In Belgium, the Government and the Parliament have actually given stipends from the public purse to clergymen performing the duties of their office in Protestant churches. This is a fact so much to the honour of Belgium, that I think it ought everywhere to be made known."

On the,subject of Free Trade, his Lordship's remarks were :—

* " With regard to the reimposition of an import duty on corn, for the specific and avowed purpose of Taising the price of food, with the view of increasing the profits of the owners and occupiers of land, I will venture to say that, when jou see the Exe running up from the sea to liverton, instead of down from Tiverton to the sea, you may look upon it that. Protection is near at hand. In saying that a return to Protection is an impossibility, I feel convinced that I am affirming that which is a benefit to all classes. No man can deny that the cheapness and abundance of food is eminently advantageous to the working classes, the most numerous portion of the community. If we look to the construction of the social edifice, we shall see that the labouring classes^are the foundation of the fabric ; and unless that foundation is solid, and firm, and testable, the fabric cannot be expected to last. (Cheers.) Nobody can hope to make the poor rich—that would be contrary to the dispensations of Providence in His dealings with the human race. * * * No laws can change the unequal distribution of wealth. You may by bad laws impoverish the rich, but I defy you by any process whatever to enrich the poor. (Cheers.) But if we cannot enrich them, we can do a great deal to make their poverty comfortable, by enabling them to command as great a portion of the necessaries of life as the dispensations of Providence, and the state of society will enable them to have within their reach. (Cheers.) That is exactly what lias been done by the repeal of the Corn-laws." (Cheers.)

Kosshth.—The Hungarian patriot Kossuth had at length been liberated by the Turkish Government, and was on his way to England when our last advices left. Preparations for his reception in London were going on rapidly, and judging from the amount of subscriptions received, and the degree of enthusiasm displayed, there was every probability of the demonstration being of a most effective character. At a meeting of gentlemen interested in the object, on Monday evening, Mr. Thornton Hunt in the chair, the committee of arrangement presented a report embodying the following recommendations, —" That the order of proceedings in marking the arrival of Kossuth be as follows. That an address be presented to Louis Kossuth ; that a procession be formed to welcome him on his arrival in London ; that Kossuth be invited to a banquet, to be given to him in the most spacious place obtainable; that a permanent committee be formed to collect a public contribution of funds for the cause of Hungary, to be placed in the hands of Louis Kossuth on his return from America to England." These recommendations were unanimously adopted. Meetings of a similar character have been also held in Westminster, Marvlebone, and other localities of the metropolis. Several addresses to Kossuth have been sent to the Mayor of Southampton for presentation. A number of ladies and gentlemen have been seen about the streets of Southampton with rosettes in their bosoms and coats, formed of the Hungarian patriotic coloured ribbons, scarlet, white, and green. The Countess Pulszky has arrived at Southampton. The Southampton corporation committee appointed to conduct the management of the banquet to Kossuth had met and settled the programme of the toasts to be given at the banquet. The usual loyal toasts will be given, due homage will be paid to the virtues and genius of the most distinguished guest at the banquet, the illustrious" Magyar Kossuih; the duties of national hospitality to the politically oppressed of all nations will be enunciated ; and the constitutional Governments of Great Britain and of the United States will be recognised as alike opposed and inimical to republican tyranny and imperial despoti»m. Mr. Wilcox, one of the borouuh members, will ie present. Lord Dudley Stuart will be also present,

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