English & Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 451, 28 February 1857, Page 7

English & Foreign.

The following extracts are copied from th c letter of the London correspondent of th c ' Argus':— The number of Liberal members in the present House of Commons is large, and there is little doubt that a general election will result in a still larger number-; but,' scattered as they are, and divided in opinion on minor matters, as a body they are powerless, and. consequently useless. Much as the ' Conservatives stand in need of a rallying cry, the Liberals are in an equally pitiable condition, and are as incapable of confronting the enemy as they are of effecting any good for themselves. Mr. 'Miall, no insignificant member of the House, and the wellknown editor of the Nonconformist, says that " the Liberals will never gain either unity, discipline, or courage, until they can dare to face the greatest anomaly of the age—the Established Church. It is the only remaining enterprise capable of inspiring enthusiasm. The policy which ignores that is but the play of Hamlet with the part of Hamlet left out." Mr. Miall thus presents something tangible, and worthy of being taken in hand by a united and vigorous Parliamentary party; for what is the established Church but a great,political, engine—the abolition of which, upon social, religious, and political grounds, is a desirable consummation ? Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Hadfield addressed their constituents, the electors of Sheffield, on Wednesday last. The former repeated his wellknown opinions on things in general, and with reference to the question at present pre-emi-nently occupying the public mind, gave this as his interpretation of the word " non-interfe-rence :"—" I don't want England to be eternally meddling in ' the quarrels of Europe. I want her to consider her own interests, for those interests happen to be the interests of mankind. But she ha* a mighty power to wield, and a great destiny to fulfil. She cannot move without the worid feeling that she moves. If she moves in error, woe to mankind; if she moves in the right path, glory be to her, and happiness to the people, who constitute her whole population. I believe we ought not to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations ; but' Awhile we abstain we must see that nobody else does so interfere.- I beg of you to remember that we are at the head of the great Liberal party of the world. Despots banded together may oppress humanity, and therefore we have the duty to see that humanity is not oppressed. Therefore I say that England should, if she can, ally herself against the despots of Europe—against the despotisms which oppress humanity." Mr. Had field referred to what had been done, and said that " they (the Liberals) had repealed the newspaper stamp and advertisement duties, and were labouring to repeal the paper duty. In Manchester they had the ' Examiner' at Id., published daily, and 18,000 copies were circulated. . Mr. Whitworth, of Manchester, was making a printing machine for the 'Times' which would print 30,000 copies an hour." I. hope Mr. Hadlield's figures are correct in reference to the printing machine, as the quickest hitherto known in England could produce only 15,000 an hour; but it, certainly is capable of improvement. Lecturing is becoming quite a fashionable pastime in the higher circles. Just fancy the Bishop of Oxford' condescending to address the Literary Institution of Beading. He managed to get through a pretty long lecture, which was received ■ with applause and gratitude. On Tuesday evening Yice-Chancelior Sir W. Page Wood inaugurated the winter course of lectures in Exeter Hall, in connection with the Young Men's Christian Association. The subject was " Truth and its Counterfeits," and it is needless to say that it was done justice to. On the same evening'(Tuesday) M. Kossuth delivered the first of his three promised lectures in the Free. Trade HalL. Manchester, to an audience of to- '■• tween 3,000 aud 4,ooopersons. The subject of :this lecture was "The Position and Prospects of

the Italian People, and the Foreign Policy of Great Britain." Last, though not least, comes Lord Eavensworth, who addressed a large teaparty on " Revealed Religion," for which .the ' -Times' in a leader took him to task .yesterday, '^correspondent of the 'Manchester Guardian' says:—l am sorry to hear that a telegraphic despatch has just been received, announcing that Mr. W. H. Russell, the ' Times' correspondent, lies dangerous!/ ill of fever, at Simphei'opol. The' Daily News' of the 15th has the following :—Mr. Little, the cashier of the Midland Great Western Railway of Ireland, committed suicide by cutting Ms throat. The cause of this act is supposed to have been the discovery of extensive defalcations in his accounts, which were previously,unsuspected. The first Cabinet Council; after the ministerial .holiday, was held on the Hth November, at ■Lord Palmerston's official residence. The Manchester organs —whose^owners seem to be perfectly savage at the way in which'the brilliant Premier has just stormed-the stronghold of cottonism, and gained the plaudits of audiences supposed to be Messrs. Bright and Cobden's private property—actually make a grievance of the locality of the Council, complain that it was not held at the Foreign-office, and point out the change as a proof of Lord Palmerston's dictatorship. One would not be hard upon sucli childishness, or suggest that, though the spirit of the shop andcounting-house might be uneasy off its own high stool or away from its accustomed counter, it is possible that gentleman can deliberate as calmJy, and discuss as freely round one hearthstone as round another. It is certain that the Cabinet had enough to consider to render it quite unmindful of petty matters. It has to make itself understood in France, to understand Austria, to console Turkey, to look grave at Russia, to hold Naples at arm's length, to object to Prussia, to commiserate Spain, to frown at Greece, to watch America, to conquer Persia, and to reform England. Truly, its work seems cut out for it, and statesmen may be forgiven if, with so much before them, they called upon their chief, instead of insisting on his meeting them a few doors further on. Count Buol hesitates about encountering the risk that would attend the Emperor of Austria's journey through Lombardy. The Civil Governor, Baron Yon Burger, appointed to get up the enthusiasm, is not quite certain of success. King Maximilian of Bavaria had a narrow escape for his life on "the Ist instant. While I his Majesty was on his way to Tolz, a part of the road suddenly sank, and one of the leaders and a postillion fell into .the chasm, Fortunately, the wheel horses stopped, and his Majesty was able to alight without accident, s The Pacha of Egypt has gone on an excursion to the interior of' his estates, and has conr fided the government to-a regency, ■'■ Mdlle. Ristori appeared at the theatre at Warsaw on the 7th in Marie Siaiart. She fully sustained the ' reputation which had preceded her. It is mentioned in a letter from the city that she is to receive '30,000 florins for six representations. .''•■. ■': :- The Austrians is the Principalities. —-The "Moniteur deTArmeV has the following: —A letter from Bucharest of the2sth states that the Austrian' Government has just confirmed. Lieutenant-General de Marziani in the command of the Imperial troops for the time thej' have to remain in the Principalities. He will have, as^before, under his orders, General de Gablentz; who has his head-quarters at Jassjr. The points where the Austrians have garrisons are —in Wallachia: Bucharest, Tergovist, Ibrail, Giurgevo, Kraiova, and Kalatat; and in Moldavia: Jassy, Husch, Galatz,and Dorogola. In the early part of October detachments were sent from other parts of Ismail, Ileni, andEills, Since the. departure of-General Coronini in July last the effective strength of the coivps of occupation has not been increased, but frequent -.movements of troops have takenplacb in consequence of its being necessary to lighten the burden on the people, whose resources are very restricted. It was these movements \vhich gave rise to. the reports of the army having been s-in-forced by fresh arrivals of troops. ... : The Russiait Black Sea Flebt.-t-A- letter from St. Petersburg, of the 31st October, says : :" It appers from the cor.tracts for ■ supplies for the fleets in the Black Sea, about to be entered into ■at Nichblaieff, that the force of will not exceed 3000 nien."

Royal Maeeiag-es.—The German papers" have been lately informing us. of marriages, _ either solemnized or . in. preparation, between princes and princesses of the Sovereign houses of-Europe. Lately, at Madrid, the. Infanta was wedded to Prince Adalbert, of Bavaria; somewhat later, the Grand Duke Frederick of Baden married, at Berlin, the • JPrincess Louisa of Prussia; a few days since the Archduke Charles Lewis of Austria espousedd, "at Dresden, the Princess Margaret of Saxony. __ Next, the King of Sweden, Oscar. 1., " communicated to representatives of the nation, the approaching union of the Duke of Ostrogothland "with a Princess of Nassau. We have further announced to us the contemplated marriages of the Prince Frederick of Prussia with the Princess Victoria of England; of the Prince Frederick of Tuscany with the Princess Anne of Saxony; and of the Grand Duke Michael of Russia with the Princess Cecilia of Baden. Thus, within the space of two months, we have ■a total of seven marriages solemnized • or on the eve of-solemnization and officially, announced, > between"'personages, ten of whom appertain to German dynasties,1 one to the Royal house of England, one to the Imperial family of Russia, one to the new Royal family of Sweden; lastly, one to a Spanish branch of the House of Bourbon. ' There has never, perhaps, been so •large a number of alliances contracted in so short an interval of time among the families of princes.-