ENGLISH NEWS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 153, 10 December 1853, Page 5

ENGLISH NEWS.

The Economist, in its latest issue; says, " it is not easy to say whether the prospect of a peaceful solution of the Eastern quarrel becomes more or less encouraging. Indications, it is thought, have appeared of a willingness on the part of the Czar to listen to negociation. We must not forget, however, that he may naturally enough do this without the slightest intention of receding from his demands, moderating his pretensions, and avoiding an ultimate rupture —since he has already occupied two large provinces of the Sultan's dominions, and by retaining them during the negociation may gain quite as much, or even more, than he could hope to do by immediate advance ; while it would be possible for him at any moment when he thought that- a favourable opportunity presented itself, to break off diplomatic [proceedings, and march directly to his end. We still hope and believe that war may be avoided ; but we are above all things anxious that it should not be warded off either by the sacrifice of Turkey or by any concession or retrocession inconsistent with the honour and high principle of England. In the meantime, whatever be the final issue, we have the satisfaction of feeling that every thing has been done both by our own Government, and by that of Louis Napoleon to pursue peace; and that both nations, while acting honestly and heartily in concert, have shewn a becoming desire to close no door and to leave no avenue untried by which Europe may be saved from having recourse to the doubtful and disastrous arbitrament of arms." The preparations for a grand naval fete at Portsmouth, on the 11th August, were on a very grand scale. Steam vessels were to convey the members of both Houses of Parliament from London to Spithead ; and the Board of Admiralty were to assemble to receive her Majesty on board the Duke of Wellington. The evolutions to be performed by the fleet (consisting of nearly 30 men-of-war) were to be of a most imposing character. The whole of the cab-drivers in London had turned out upon strike, in imitation of the manufacturing masses. The Illustrated News of the 6th August, is full of engravings representing the droll chaos of fashionable broadcloths and opera dresses, with their moving humanity, left in the murky streets of London at unseasonable hours without a cab possibly procurable. The Melbourne Herald's correspondent thus describes the "demonstration:"— Ci London has lately been occupied with a grand struggle that has been going forward between the public and the cab-drivers. The latter had become so bold in their extortions, that a female was scarcely safe from insult or imposition, or both, whenever she found it necessary to ride in a cab, without male protection ; and indeed even this was scarcely an adequate defence, for it required more tact and patience than most men can command, to baffle the 'chaff,' put down the bullying, and resist the extortion of the cab-driving fraternity. The Legislature having passed a measure for the protection of the public, and the magistrates and the police having shown a disposition to give it full effect, the cabmen turned sulky—having first tried their old plan of c bullying,' which was found not to answer, owing to the severity of the penalties inflicted, and on an appointed day the cabs were universally withdrawn from the streets of London. The most remarkable feature of this ' strike' is, that a body of men containing' some of the lowest of London scamps, should have so thoroughly exemplified the proverb of ' honour among thieves,' by having been sufficiently true to each other to have kept their own secret. Such, however, is the fact, and for three days London was without cabs—a state of tilings which called forth all kinds of resources to obviate the inconvenience that would otherwise have been suffered. Aristocratic-looking individuals who would almost have fainted at \ the idea of carrying a carpet-bag through the | streets, were seen manfully shouldering their ■ own luggage, and well-dressed women were to he seen laden with piles of band boxes, undis- ,. mayedby the jeers of the half-drunken ruffians who, having abandoned their usual employment, were assembled at every railway terminus, to Prevent, as far as they could, the public from Mialung the best of the inconvenience to which they were subjected. Such promptitude was shown in finding other means of conveyance for Ule use of the metropolis, and there* came so

many rumours of companies about to be formed to supply the vacuum left by the absent cabs, that in three days the old vehicles re-appeared in all the thoroughfares. It is perhaps to be regretted that the drivers did not absent themselves a few days longer, for had that been the case, it is most likely that a new and improved set of carriages and men would have been introduced into the metropolis." Every one will remember the exti'aordinary and melancholy case of the Baroness Yon Beck. This lady, who had acquired some literary reputation by a work entitled " Personal adventures of a Lady during the late War of Independence in Hungary," went to Birmingham, in August, 1851, for the purpose of obtaining subscriptions to a new work. She was accompanied by a friend, Constant Derra de Meroda, a Hungarian gentleman, who generously consented to aid her in her object. Shortly after her arrival, as she was labouring under severe illness, she and M. de Meroda were invited to the house of Mr. H. W. Tyndall, and were kindly treated by their host and hostess. A. M. Paul Hojnik whispered in the year of Mr. Tyndall that the lady had no right to the title of Baroness—that she was an imposter and a spy, and that she and her friend were obtaining subscriptions for a work which would never be published. By a preconcerted arrangement, the informer was admitted into the house of Mr. Tyndall ; the curtains of the drawing room were pulled aside, in order that he might identify his victims ; and, this having been done, the affrighted Baroness and tlie astonished M. de Meroda were at once arrested and sent to prison on a charge of having obtained from Mr. George Dawson, the lecturer, the sum of £l 4s. by false pretences —the sum of £l 4s. being the money which Mr. Dawson had paid to M. de Meroda as a subscription for the new work contemplated by the lady. The result of this extraordinary and precipitate conduct was the almost immediate death of the suffering Baroness, and the abandonment of the charge against her friend, who was liberated on the following morning. M. de Meroda brought an action against the parties implicated for having, without reasonable and probable cause, charged him with obtaining money under false pretences, and with having caused him to be arrested and detained in prison. The action was tried, and ended in a nonsuit. Subsequently the plaintiff obtained a rule for a new trial, and the case was tried a second time at the Warwick assizes, before Mr. Justice Maule and a special Jury. The learned Judge, in summing up, expressed strongly his own opinion that there was no evidence of any reasonable and probable cause for making any such charge against the plaintiff, and the Jury cast the defendants in £800 damages. The Registrar General has issued the quarterly return of the marriages, births, and deaths registered in England. The number of marriages celebrated in the quarter ending on the 31st of March last, was 250]4, or 2081 more than were celebrated in the corresponding quarter of 1852. The number of births in the quarter ending the 30th June last was 158,718, or nearly the same as in the corresponding quarters of 1851 and 1852, but considerably above the average of preceding years. The number of deaths in the quarter ending June 30 was 107,801, which is the highest that has ever before been registered in the spring season, and exceeds by 7048 the deaths in the corresponding quarter of 1552. The excess of births over deaths is consequently 50,857. The number of emigrants who sailed from the ports of the United Kingdom at which there are Government emigration agents was 115,952, so that, taking the natural increase of population in Ireland and Scotland to beat the same rate" as in England, there was in the spring quarter a decrease of the population of Great Britain to the extent of 61,339. The great turn-out of factory operatives at Stockport, after having lasted for eight weeks, and cost the parties concerned about £130,000, has ended in the employers offering to the spinners the increase of ten per cent which was demanded. To the weavers, however, they have only offered an increase of live per cent., which has been refused. The Commissioners appointed to inquire into the corrupt practices prevalent in the city of Canterbury have issued their report, a folio volume of 470 pages, containing a mass of extraordinary evidence, which shows that both the

Whig and Tory parties Lave been guilty of systematic bribery and corruption for a long period. A Frenchman named Edouard Baynaud, who appeared about thirty-live years of age, had been arrested, charged with having conspired, with others, to murder Louis Napoleon, the Emperor of France. The prisoner, a sicklylooking man, of short stature, was brought to London from Loutham in custody of Sergeant Sanders, of the detective police, to whom a warrant for his apprehension was granted a few days previously, upon the private application of Mr. Bodkin and Mr. Reynolds, the Solicitor to the Treasury. The prisoner underwent an examination at Bow-street Police Office, when it appeared from the deposition of Prince de Joinville, that he had written several letters to that Prince, declaring his intention to assassinate the Emperor. He was committed for trial. A romance of real life which has seldom been exceeded for extravagance, occurred at the Summer Gloucester Assizes. An action of ejectment was brought, and occupied three days in the trial, in which a soi-disant Sir Richard Smyth strove to eject an undoubtedly bond fide Smyth, a minor, from the possession of estates valued at from £20,000 to 25,000 a year. The present possessor of the ancestral acres of the Smyths, derives his title from his Grandmother, the sister of a certain Sir Hugh Smyth, who died in 1824. Sir Hugh was known to be twice married, and to have had no issue in either case. On the death of Sir Hugh, in 1824, his brother Sir John, succeeded to his estates, who dying in 1849, was succeeded by his sister Florence. The plaintiff claimed possession as a legitimate son of old Sir Hugh, by a previous marriage. His mother, he said, died in childbed,and thebirth waskeptase'cret.beeause the father wished to marry a daughter of the Bishop of Bristol. The plaintiff was (he alleged) sent abroad, and his father made afterwards to believe him dead. The documents brought forward in support of the plaintiffs case were the register of the marriage from an old family bible—the register of the baptism from the same bible—a letter from Sir Hugh to the wife just upon eve of delivery, and deeds made in favour of the present claimant when Sir Hugh was made acquainted with the fact of his existence. It is to be remarked that the signatures to these documents were attested with various degrees of assurance by persons apparently entitled to different grades of credit. One fact was asserted which, although it proves nothing, was calculated to make a remarkable impression. The plaintiff declared that when in 1849, he communicated to Sir John Snjyth, the fact of his being in possession of proof that he was the legal heir, the effect was such that Sir John only survived until the next morning. Towards the'close of the trial it transpired that certain seals and family relics exhibited by the plaintiff in support of his claims, had been made to his order in London, and that he had been convicted of horse-stealing, and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted. The Judge ordered the fellow into custody for forgery 0 and perjury, and he was committed to Gloucester gaol for trial on these charges, instead of figuring as Sir Richard Smyth.

The Colonial Wool Sales, which would terminate on the 33th August, were slightly improving as they progressed towards the close. Up to the 10th the number of bales sold was 54,370. The apprehension of a rupture in our foreign relations which existed, had materially affected the market, arid a "continuance of unfavourable weather had also contributed to the depression ; aud from- these causes, a decided decline of Id. on the better class of clothing wools had been-experienced in the early part of the sales, and burrf 4lSeces- moved heavily at a reduction of 2d. per:lb; There appeared to be no surprise felt by persons engaged in the trade at this depreciation of prices, but rather a kind of satisfaction that they had been so well sustained against a combination of adverse circumstances. " The colonial wool sales," say Messrs. Hazard and Son, " progress as satisfactorily as can be expected in the uncertain state in which the whole country is placed as to war or peace. The quantity brought forward is large, and t ie prices keep up pretty well for good clean parcels. The decline is from % to id., or thereabouts, depending in each parcel as to the state or condition of the wool." A similar tone pervades other circulars.