FOREIGN NEWS. DIARY. MEMORANDA TO NEXT PUBLICATION. LATEST DATES RECEIVED FROM

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 83, 7 August 1852, Page 5

FOREIGN NEWS.

DIARY. MEMORANDA TO NEXT PUBLICATION.

LATEST DATES RECEIVED FROM

FRANCE. The celebrated Marshal Marmont, who commanded the French army at Talavera, has recently died at Venice, aged 78. The widow of Marshal Soult is also deceased, at the advanced age of 81. Armand Marrast, the celebrated editor of the now defunct National, and President of the Constituent Assembly, is dead, having never entirely recovered from a fit of apoplexy in November last. He was followed to his grave in the burial ground of Montmartre by a large portion of the members of the press, and by most of those Republicans who, like himself, had never been disgraced by an alliance with Socialism. General Cavaignac was amongst the pall bearers ; and, it is said, met, for the first time since the 2nd December, an old colleague in the Assembly, M. Veillard, now Conseille d'Etat, who, in shaking hands with the General, expressed a hope that they might yet meet again on the same ground. "On the ground to which we are now going perhaps," said the General ; :c mais jamais un autre !■" The returns of the French elections are now complete. A minority of five —not quite one in fifty—constitutes the Opposition, although it is not to be taken for granted that all the rest are thick-and-thin supporters of the Government. A body of this kind is of course a mere ornamental appendage to the Presidency ; it is useless as an engine of influence, and any where else than in France would be detested as a standing insult to the nation ; it will be Louis Napoleon's tool as long as he is master, and in his hour of adversity, like the old Senate of the Empire, will sting the hand that created it. Both Chambers meet at the close of March, and sit till the end of June, —a short session, but long enough, probably, for the work wbich will be found for them to do. It is easier and more agreeable to legislate autocratically by proclamations and decrees, and Louis Napoleon has now an opportunity of indulging at will and at the public expense that propensity for large schemes which has adhered to him throughout his life. Among the projects now on the stocks is one for establishing mortgagesocieties, a species of association hitherto unknown to the law, with extraordinary powers of realizing their securities—thereby extending the facilities which the French cottar so greedily uses of running in debt—and another for reorganizing afresh the whole education system organised by M. Falloux's Act two year's ago. The Church is to be gratified with two more Cardinals' hats, and the great borrowing interest—a large proportion of the nation—by a reduction of the rate of discount extorted from the Bank. The palace meanwhile, if report says true, is a scene of perpetual squabbles and intrigues. Louis Napoleon is obstinate and suspicious"; his creatures are second-rate men, of grasping and ambitious temper. They have seen their predecessors used and flung away, and are not disposed to share a similar fate. M. de Mornv, who planned tbe coup d'etat, has been disgraced ; Maupas and De Persigny, after ruining him, are labouring to supplant each other. and the President is said to have quarrelled fiercely with General St. Arnaud. Such is the Government that sways the destinies of the French people. The exertions of M. de Lavalette, the French envoy at Constantinople, have obtained for the Latin Christians in Palestine several fresh privileges, including that of access to certain spots which have for upwards of a century been in the exclusive custody of the Greeks. The Univers declares itself well satisfied with these concessions ; but commends the t; dignified adroitness" of the envoy, who, whilst securing all that he could get, took care to leave himself at liberty to demand more by protesting against the very arrangement he had taken' so much pains to conclude. The Patrie contains the following note on the new English Foreign Minister : " The appointment of Lord Malmesbury to the important post of Minister of Foreign Affairs is a fact of which the great importance cannot be too clearly brought to light. It is perhaps not known in France that this statesman is a personal friend of the Prince President of the Republic; that he has not ceased for many years to entertain

relations with him, founded on reciprocal esteem and affection, and that he even paid him many visits during his captivity in the citadel of Ham. Those intimate relations have been long known in England. For that reason tbe choice made by her Britannic Majesty derives a most particular signification' from those circumstances. For our part, we are pleased to find in it a proof of the desire of the English Government to consolidate the friendly relations which exist between the two countries, and we believe that it would have been impossible to manifest that desire in a manner more agreeable to the Prince President." SPAIN. The reception of Queen Isabella on her visit to the church of Atocha on the 18th February, to dedicate to the Virgin the garments she wore when her assassination was attempted, was most enthusiastic. In the evening she appeared with the King at the theatre amidst redoubled rejoicings. In the autograph letter from Queen Victoria, her Spanish Majesty was addressed as "My dear Sister." The Altar of the church of Atocha was kept illuminated till seven in the evening, when— " A magnificent carriage, drawn by eight horses, and escorted by cavalry, arrived at the church. In the carriage were the CameraraMajor, and the Grand Major Domo of the Queen, holding in their arms a large basket covered with a cloth embroidered with the royal arms. These functionaries were received at the door by the clergy, and having alighted, the basket was carried in procession into the church. The Count de Pino Hermoso then said that he had been commanded by her Majesty the Queen to place at the feet of the Queen of Heaven the dress and the jewels which her Majesty had worn that day, when she solemnly presented her dear daughter as a visible testimony of her filial devotion, and her gratitude for the bounties which heaven, in its powerful protection, had bestowed upon her. The basket was then placed upon the altar, and the covering removed. The dress that it contained was that which the Queen wore on the 18th, and which she also wore on the 2nd, when she received the wound from the poignard of Merino. Some marks of blood are visible on the cloak. The jewels consisted of a necklace in brilliants." RfVER PLATE. Intelligence has reached England of the total defeat of Rosas on the morning of the 3rd of February, when a severe action, commencing at 6 a.m., and lasting until 10 a.m., ending in the total defeat of the Buenos Ayrean army, was fought by Rosas' forces against the Brazilian and Oriental army under Urquiza. It took place between Merlo and the Passo del Rev ; 4,000 men are said to have fallen : " The Holstein cavalry, in Brazilian pay, literally rode over the much-vaunted horsemen of the Dictator of the Argentine Republic, who was present during the action, and wounded in the hand. On the night of the 4th of February Urquiza slept in the Quinta of Rosas, at Palermo, who at the same time escaped with some of his suite on board her Majesty's ship " Locust." He was disguised as a marine, and his daughter, Mannellita, as a sailor boy. They were afterwards, transferred to the " Centaur." General Mancilla was commanding in the city, and bad offered to deliver it up peaceably to the conqueror. The diplomatic agents of the different foreign powers had gone out to arrange matters amicably, if possible. The army of Urquiza commenced the passage of Paramaon the 22d of December, and completed it on the Bth of January ; its numbers were 28,000 men, 50,000 horses, 40 pieces of artillery, and the necessary baggage. General Pacheco commanded the Buenos Ayrean army in the above oattle. " Mr. master of her Majesty's ship " Locust," rode out to see the fight and was met by'some gauchos of Rosas' army retreating, who demanded his horse. He refused to give it up —they took it from him, and shot him in the arm, in consequence of which wound he afterwards died." UNITED STATES. The following fracas in the House of Representatives at Washington is reported in the New York journals : " Mr. Brown, of Mississippi, made a party speech on the southern rights movement, which he said went down with the first Union Convention held in the Mississippi. He thought the movement originated in a patriotic spirit. Mr. Brown then alluded to some remarks of his

colleague, Mr. Wilcox, about the old line Democrats trying to sneak back into the party; but he (Mr. Brown) thought it was Mr. Wilcox and his associates who put themselves into the pale of democracy by forming a union party composed of Whigs as well as Democrats. " Mr. Wilcox rose and retorted sharply on Mr. Brown. My colleague, said Mr. Wilcox, says there was no party in Mississippi in favour of secession. I had thought that the gentleman had too high a regard for truth to make a declaration so baseless of truth. (Sensation.) " Mr. Brown asked if his colleague charged him with falsehood ? ''Mr. Wilcox: I have spoken boldly; my language cannot be misunderstood on that point. " Mr. Brown -. Do you mean to say that what I have stated is false ? (Looking sternly at his colleague.) " Mr. Wilcox: If you mean to say there is nobody in Mississippi in favour of secession, it is false. " The last word was scarcely uttered before Brown drew off and planted a blow in Wilcox's face. Wilcox returned it, and both clinched. " The scene of confusion that followed was most terrific. Brown was dragged off to a distance, and Wilcox jumped on his desk shouting he could whip him. Calls, in vain, were made for the Seargeant-at-Arms; the Speaker rushed into the house, took the chair, and rapped to restore order, which was partially obtained after a long effort. The Chairman of the Committee reported progress. "Both members then made very humble apologies to the house, asking forgiveness, and entreating the country's pardon for their most disgraceful conduct." By the last advices we learn that M. Kossuth was in the west, making speeches and receiving donations. The Hungarian certificates, payable on the re-establishment of M. Kossuth in Hungary, were still being used, though the demand for such an investment was but limited. His popularity is pronounced on all sides to be on the wane, and the agitation at all kept up only by his presence. " Out of sight out of mind." The despatch of Lord Granville apologising for the outrage of the Captain of the Express in firing upon the Prometheus, at Grey Town, is published in the American papers, with Mr. Lawrence's acknowledgments of satisfaction. The act had been previously disowned by ViceAdmiral Sir G. Seymour. Lord Granville says:—

" The undersigned has now to state to Mr. Abbott Lawrence, for the information of his Government, that her Majesty's Government fully approve of the Vice-Admirals-conduct in this matter, and that they entirely disavow the act of violence committed by the commander of tbe Express, and also the requisition from her Majesty's Consul, under which the commander acted, so far as he acted by any authority derived from the British Crown. Under these circumstances, her Majesty's Government have no hesitation in offering an ample apology for that which they consider to have been an infraction of treaty engagements; and her Majesty's Government do so without loss of time, and immediately upon the receipt of the official intelligence, above alluded to, inasmuch as, in their opinion, it would be unworthy the Government of a great nation to hesitate about making due reparation when the acts of their subordinate authorities have been such as not to admit of justification. As her Majesty's Government have full confidence that the Government of the United States is actuated by a similar feeling, they hope that this mutual confidence will induce each other, in all cases of such disputes, and until due time has elapsed for the necessary explanations to be received, to deter taking any steps which might lead to collisions, and thus much aggravate the original difficulty. —The undersigned requests, &c, " Granville. " Foreign Office, January 10, 1852." The New York Tribune says :— " Jenny Lind was married by the Protestant Episcopal rite. She is thirty-one years old and her husband twenty-four. He is a gentleman and a man of genius—of Hebrew origin, we believe. We well remember his performance on the pianoforte, too good for the popular appreciation, and never deviating from the severity of art to draw out the public plaudits by tricks of clap-trap, which he had dexterity enough to do if he hud chosen. On those occasions Jenny, who was not on the stage at the

moment, used often to stand forward in her private box and clap her hands vigorously in sight of the audience, who by no means seemed to share her admiration of the pianist. However she understood his merits a great deal better than they did."

England direct—March 27 Tasmania—June 16. Do. via Auckd.—March 4. Wellington—July 21. N.S.Wales—June 3. Auckland—July 7. Victoria—June 3. Nelson—July 3. S.Australia—-May 26. Otago—June 26.

Days. Month. UISES, IN. '.SETS. ** High Morning. | — Water. j Even iso. Saturday . Sunday Monday . Tuesday . Wednesday Thursday . Friday Aug. 7, ... 8 .. 9 ... 10 ... 11 ... 12 ... 13 7 1 7 0 6 59 ti 58 6 56 6 55 6 54 4 59 5 0 5 1 5 2 5 4 5 5 5 6 9 24 ! iO 6 10 51 11 39 0 23 1 07 1 58 9 45 10 28 li 15 0 03 0 43 1 32 2 24 t Moon's last J quarter i on tl I he 8ili i, lh. 8m., afternoon.