English and Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 494, 29 July 1857, Page 3

English and Foreign.

I EN^ISH NEWS TO MAY 16th. j The arrival of the Wonga Wonga on qnnday P uts us *n possession, of the Eng- \- h mail which left London,,via Marseilles, the 16th of May, arrived in Melbourne, hv the Columbian, on the 6th 'instant, and •["Wellinglo"' by the Marchioness, on the 19th instant, the latest news brought being then only 64 days old. We take the following fr°m the Melbourne ' Argus' of July

LATEST INTELLIGENCE. The Columbian brings one of the largest nails ever brought to the colonies, consisting ,{■so3 boxes, viz., for Melbourne, 252 ; Sydney, 140; Adelaide, 49; Tasmania, \5; King George's Sound, 7. The Columbian, on the return voyage,

at Aden on the third of June. She i was there detained forty hours, taking in 980 tons of coal. At Galle she stayed thirty eight hours taking in coals, where she arrived on the 14th of June, one day behind her contract time. From there she had steamed direct to Melbourne; We are indebted to Captain Pender for the following important items of news from the east.

LATEST FBOM THE EAST,

From Ceylon she brings intelligence of the loss of the P. and O. Co's steamer Erin, which was run ashore on Sunday night, the 7th June, on her voyage from Bombay to China. All hands were savsd, but the ship and cargo are a total loss.

The intelligence from India is of an alarming character of the progress of the mutiny in the Bengal army. At the latest advices, about 12,000 of the mutineers, after killing their officers, had obtained possession of the city of Delhi. An overwhelming force of European troops was concentrating around that city, and next mail will, it is hoped, bring intelligence of the suppression of this fresh out-break, and the chastisement of the leaders.

From China there is nothing additional; the fleet and. troops still maintain their former positions, whilst waiting the expected reinforcements. The first portion of the flotilla, consisting of six gun-bouts, had arrived out at Singapore, where it is intended that the whole of the fleet and transports shall rendezvous.

The Raleigh, frigate, Captain Kiffal, Ayas lost near Mocco.

Pending the suppression of the revolt of the Sepoy troops in Bengal, steamers had been despatched by the Governor-General to the Mauritius and the straits of to intercept the troop-ships destined for China, and to direct them upon Calcutta.

Lord Eglin's departure from Calcutta for China was deferred until the settlement of the Sepoy outbreak.

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

The seventeenth Parliament of the United Kingdom, (the filth summoned during the present reign), and the second session of 1857, was inaugurated on the 7th May with the following speech trom the throne. Her Majesty was noc present at the opening of the Parliament:—

My Lords and Gentlemen, — We are commanded to inform you that her Majesty has availed herself of the earliest opportunity of having.recourse to your advice and assistance after the dissolution of the last Parliament; and her Majesty trusts that there will be found sufficient time during the present session to enable you satisfactorily to deal with various important matters, some of which had occupied the attention of Parliament in the beginning of this year. We are commanded by her Majesty to inform you that the general aspect of affairs in Europe affords a well grounded confidence in the continuance of peace. AH the main stipulations of the Treaty of Paris have been, carried into execution, and it is to be hoped that what remains to be done in regard to those matters will be speedily accomplished.

The negotiations in which her Majesty has been engaged with the.government of Honduras, in regard to the, affairs of Central America, have not yet been brought to a close. We are commanded by her Majesty to inform you that a treaty of peace between her Majesty and the Shah of Persia was signed at Paris on 1 °f March, by her Majesty's ambassador at Paris, and by the ambassador of the Shah, and her Majesty will give directions that this treaty shall be laid, before you as soon as the ratifications thereof shall have, been duly exchanged. Her Majesty commands us to express to you Jer regret that, at the date ot the latest arrivals "•om China, the differences which had arisen Between the High Commissioner at Canton, and n, e'Ma Jesty's civil and naval.officers in China E»U remain unadjusted. But her Majesty has sent to China a Plenipotentiary fully instructed w> deal with all matters of difference, and that Jerupotentiary will be supported by an adequate "aval and military force, in the event of such Mr cc necessary. We aye commanded to inform you that her !' <!eST?) m conjunction with several other Euroj£. ari Powers, has concluded a treaty with the Ulg of Denmark for the redemption of the

Sound Dues. _ This treaty, together with a separate convention between her Majesty and the King of Denmark, completing the arrangement, will be laid before you, and her Majesty will cause the measures necessary for fulfilling the engagements thereby contracted to be submitted for your consideration.

Gentlemen of the House of Commons, — ; Her Majesty has directed the estimates for the present year to be laid hefore you. They have been prepared with careful attention_ to economy, and with a due regard to the efficiency of the departments of the public service to which they severally relate. My Lords and Gentlemen, — Her Majesty commands us to recommend to your earnest consideration measures which will be proposed to you for the consolidation and improvement of the law.

Bills will be submitted to you for improving the laws relating to the testamentary and matrimonial jurisdiction now exercised by the Ecclesiastical Courts, and also for checking fraudulent breaches of trust.

Her Majesty commands us to express to you her heartfelt gratification at witnessing the continued well-being and contentment of her people, and the progressive development of productive industry throughout her dominions. Her Majesty confidently commits to your wisdom and care the great interests of her empire^ and fervently prays that the blessing of Almighty God may be vouchsafed to your deliberations, and may lead you to conclusions conducive to the objects of her Majesty's constant solicitude, the welfare and happiness of her loyal and faithful people.

The address in reply to her Majesty's speech was moved in the House of Lords by Cord Townshend, seconded by the Earl of Portsmouth, and carried unanimously. In the House of Commons, Mr. Dodson, the member for East Sussex moved, and Mr. Buchanan the member for Glasgow, seconded the address, which was unanimously carried. The debate was remarkable only on account of that declaration which it drew from Lord Palmerston :— " I hope—indeed I am confident—that at the beginning of the next session, we shall be able to propose to parliament some measure which will be calculated to satisfy the just expectations of many parties, and to correct any defects which may exist in the Reform Act, as well as to admit to the franchise those classes of persons who are excluded from it. More than that, I trust the House will not expect me to say at present. If this House has confidence in the present Government, it ought to show it by exercising the forbearance, by not j pressing this session for any declaration upon particular points in reference to representative reform. If this House has not sufficient confidence in us to wait until the next session for the production of measures upon a subject requiring the gravest consideration, then it bad better say so, and at once place the administration of the affairs of the country in other hands." Mr. Evelyn Denison, member for North Nottinghamshire, was elected to the Speakership of the House of Commons without opposition. FROM THE ' HOME NEWS,' MAY 16. It will be seen from our parliamentary report that Sir George Grey has again brought his Transportation and Penal Servitude Bill before the House of Commons, and the measure is in all respects the same as that initiated tast February, but was prevented fronVproceeding with by the dissolution of parliament. Its salient features may be briefly indicated, and for the details our readers may be referred to the elaborate report of the debate they will find in our columns. It is proposed by this bill to abolish transportation nominally, and to substitute for it a term of penal servitude of the same duration. Transportation, however, although thus theoretically repealed, will be practically carried into effect on a small scale ; for the bill provides that the Government may convey any person under penal servitude - L to any place beyond the seas appointed by her Majesty in Council. The object of this provision is to reserve the means of supplying convict labour wherever, or whenever, it may be required; but Sir George Grey is of opinion that the number of instances will be few in which this power will be resorted to. Penal servitude within the four seas will be the rule, transportation the exception. The right of granting qualified freedom is still retained by the Home-office. There seems no longer to be any alarm on this subject. The ticket-of-leave is found to be innocent of a large proportion of the crimes laid at its door, and the domestic serenity of the last few months, in addition to the evidence of gtastical returns, has greatly tranquilised the public mind in reference to the liberated convict. Mr. Keating, last night, moved an amendment for the repeal of the ticket-of-leave system, but the sense of the House was clearly against him, and the amendment was rejected by a large majority. That the decision of the Government in abandoning transportation is opposed to the

recorded opinions of many eminent men. and of committees of both Houses cf Parliament, cannot be denied ; but its prudence, or necessity, is not the less obvious. Tin colonies, with the exception of Western Australia, had protested against any mon. drafts of convicts, and the difficulty was to find localities to supply their places. Most of the places suggested were ineligible on yarious grounds; and if the statute book had retained a positive enactment directing transportation to take effect in certain cases we should have been in the dilemma of having passed a law which, we could not put into operation. The bill proposed by Sir G. Grey avoids this anomaly by abolishing transportation, while it reserves to her Majesty in Council the power of sending convicts across the seas when circumstances may .render it desirable.

A petition from Mr. Montgomery Martin was laid before the House of \ Commons on lasts night, pray ing that the new Reform Bill may be so framed as to make provision for the representation of the Colonies in the ZmperialJ Parliament. The petition does not develop Mr. Martin's views in detail, but we believe that his scheme contemplates 20 Colonial representatives : five for Canada and its tributaries, five for New South Wales, three for the West Indies, three for the Cape, and four for the Mediterranean and Channel Islands belonging to Great Britain. This proposal seems to us open to objection on the ground.of the relative members being disproportionate; but we apprehend that there exist other and graver objections to a project which appears on the face of it just and reasonable. The distance between the Colonies and the mother country would render parliamentary representation, subject as it would be to parliamentary influences and parliamentary vicissitudes, of extremely doubtful utility to the remote constituencies ; while the establishment of imperial representation would be to some extent inconsistent with the principle of selfgovernment, towards the recognition of which all colonies aspire as they grow in wealth and power. The question, however, in all its bearings is well worthy of consideration, and should not be hastily decided either way.

It is confidently reported in the clubs that the Lord Chancellor's retirement will very shortly take place. Sir Alexander Cockburn would, probably, aspire to the portfolio of Justice, when such a department comes to be created; and the new Chancellor will, in all likelihood, be Sir Richard Bethell, the present Attorney-General. Sir W. Page Wood is spoken of, but the Attorney-Gene-ral's claim is considered stronger. Mr. Edwin James, Mr. Keating, and Mr. Collier, are suggested for the SolicitorGeneralship.

One of ihose efforts of imagination win oh periodically appear in the form of rumours has recently been current, to the effect that the country was about to be deprived of the services of one of the most able and valued of her Majesty's Ministers. Lord Panmure was said to-be about to resign. Nor was there any hesitation in assigning causes for this act. We can state authoritatively that the rumour, in all its particulars, is entirely devoid of any foundation.

Mr. Chichester Fortescue has succeeded Mr. John Ball as Uader-Secretary for the Colonies:

The recent, departure of Baron Gros for China, as Extraordinary French Commissioner, to "co-operate with Lord Elgin, is announced by the ' Mouiteur.' A mission of such importance could not have been placed in abler hands. Baron Gros has long been recognised as one of the most distinguished diplomatists of France. In 1847 "he was sent by Louis Philippe on a mission to the Argentine Republic ; in 1850 he acted as mediator between Great Britain and Greece ; and he very recently concluded the treaty between France aud'Spain which regulates the common frontier on the Pyrenees.

We extract from the ' Spectator ' of each week the current news of the month elapsed since last mail. (week ekdikg apkii. 18.) The present Easter has witnessed the completion of a general election —one of the quietest, yet strangest, that the country has undergone. We have seen the counties "rescued from Tory domination," as

agents on the other side say. We have seen Ireland peculiarly Conservative, yet there too we see Galway rescued from the nomination of Dr. M'Hale; his nominee, Captain Bellew, being defeated by a Liberal Protestant, with undoubted support from the Roman Catholic gentry, and even, it is said, from Roman Catholic priests. Such is the fusion of parties even in the highest Papal quarters. Yet Protestantism has had its checks. In the Court of Apptal, lately, it was as it were a drawn battle between Liddell and

Westerton ; and while, as a consequence of the judicial decision pronouncing the legality of credence-tables, altar-cloths, and crosses, various churches, most especially All Saints in the district of St. Marylebone, have'blazed forth in a gorgeous display of ecclesiastical decoration both of men and furniture, /St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, has re-elected Mr. Westerton in the face of Mr. Liddell.

The week has brought an official reassurance against too great panic on the score of cattle murrain. Dr. Greenhow, in a report to the President of the Board of Health, draws certain distinctions, showing that the disease which has affected cattle heretofore imported is the " lung disease," already well known in this country, and not very serious; whereas the proclamation has cut off the import from the very moment that the more alarming disease of " steppe murrain " had crossed the border of Prussia or Austria, Westward. We were therefore free to eat our holiday beef without very serious apprehension of the Tartar taint; yet it certainly has been an eventful Easter which thus interfered with the hopes and fears of the dinner-table.

A diplomatic ferment in the relations between America and Europe is indicated by recent^ occurrences, but without any satisfactory explanation. A treaty concluded between this country and France has caused great vexation in British North America. Long since, the French claimed the right of fishery on the coasts of Newfoundland, a right which they had exercised when France held possessions in North America. The practice has continued de facto ; the colonists always objecting, and the English Government trimming between the French claim |and assertions of the Colonial claim. But recently a treaty has been arranged between France and England, confirming the claim of France. The consequence is an outburst in Newfoundland, with a sympathizing outburst in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and even Canada, to the extent, it is said, of contemplating a federal protest. The treaty, indeed, has been reserved for the confirmation of the Legislature of Newfoundland, —rather a curious provision in an Imperial treaty. Would it not have been a more direct course, more conformable to the interests of this country, if France had been induced to resign her pretensions upon actual compensation to the iuterests specially engaged? There is no doubt that salt fish could be furnished to the Roman Caiholics of France quite as cheaply by an English as by a French fishery. And if the pride of the French people had been concernedj concessions such as the free navigation of the Gambia, and other compensating compliments, might have been paid by this country as a set-off.

As it is, there is a chance either that the colonists will be irritated at some official "management" to fulfil the wishes of France, or France will be annoyed by the rejection of- a treaty which we have concluded.; chances both of which would have been prevented by departing from the dogmatic secrecy of diplomacy and openly discussing the question of its merits. (week ending apeil 25.) The grand Russian railway scheme has arrived at that stage of unsuccessful endeavour which is characterised by reckless mismanagement. In the effort to push it, whether with or without the requisite certificate of admission upon the English Stock Exchange, expedients have been adopted wjhich were perfectly certain to provoke exposure. Some kind of " transaction" was effected on Monday, with a price nominally realizing a premium of " i to 1 per cent." But how did the scheme come there at all ? Who introduced the stranger ? It turns out that three applications had *been made, each for the exact sum of £20,000, and in each case upon instruction from some foreign city,—Paris, Brussels, and perhaps Amsterdam. The attempt, no doubt, was intended to create the appearance of an English demand for the stock of these Russian railways ; but J any contrivance more clumsy or more easily seen through can hardly be conceived. It might have been expected that the House of Baring, the representative of England in the Russian Directorate, would have understood how to manage matters better on Cornhill. As the comparatively small sum expected from this country, £2,000,000, might have been raised by private means without an appeal to the public, the appeal argues a want of confidence on the part of those very firms that are seeking to obtain other people's money for the investment; while the urgent exertion to collect even petty sums, through country clergymen in England, as well as through private subscriptions, in Russsia, proves beyond doubt that the scheme does not " take" in any part of Europe. Uudoubtedly, this correct judgment has been materially aided by the

diligence and unanimity with which the English press has disclosed the true merits of the case.

(week ending mat 2.)

. The ne<v Parliament met on Thursday, and many of the members saw each other for the first time. They have before them a clear stage, and no unfavourable construction. The publ c, we believe, concurs with us in discontinuing the fashion of classifying the members, either new or even old, according to the party nick-names. The lists which we give in our supplement seek to supply such information as is really available, without the delusion involvedin placing members in categories to which they may not really belong. They will be judged not by any such verbal distinction, but by their acts.

The first business before the House was the election of Speaker. All doubts which have been expressed upon the subject were settled by the unanimous election of Mr. John Evelyn Denison, the Member for North Nottinghamshire. Not a shadow of resistance was offered, not even a question raised. If any misgivings had existed as to the absence of certain qualifications in a practical knowledge of Parliamentary business, it was in great part dispelled by the assurances of Mr. Thornely, that Mr. Denison had all the requisite experience, an unusual amount of practice, and steady observation, to fit him even for the most technical duties of the Speakership. He ascended the chair with the customary congratulation of the leader of the House of Commons, seconded by one of the gentlemen who has been named as his probable rival. Great was the contrast, in that perfect unanimity, that unbroken peace, with the first scene in the Reformed Parliament, when the triumphant Ministers were proposing to continue the Tory Manners Sutton in the chair, and Joseph Hume was bringing forward Mr. Edward Littleton with tne support of Cobbett and O'Connell, the Radical and the Repealer. In those days the very name of Tory was enough to rouse the [spirit of destruction on the Liberal side : at the present day the difficulty is to draw'a distinct line between the two sides, and the Speaker named by one is welcomed by the other.

The Duchess of Gloucester has closed a long life, not uncheckered, not without its sorrov/s or its solaces- Her death removes the last of George the Third's children—the last royal link with a past political regime. The Princess Mary was one of the best, certainly the most amiable of his immediate family. Fast in her affections, she was able to enjoy to the last the unremitting attention which she received from her relatives —a testimony alike to her own character and to theirs.

The Grand Duke Constantine has been making a reconnaisance at Toulon, after the fashion of Peter the Great, learning amid trophies of Russia's defeat how she may win nest time ; and he has arrived in Paris, no doubt to see what he can pick up in the market of empires. France will try to get something out of the Russian traveller; the Russian traveller will seek to carry home more than an equivalent.

Neuchatel Conference is reported to have been formally closed; Switzerland having accepted the terms, which prove to be less unsatisfactory for the Republic than they looked in the earlier description.

New lights are thrown upon the union of the Danubian principalities, in the interest of the Roumans, who desire it on a speculation that their own local energy will beat the designs of Russia as well as Turkey; and the balance of council seems to incline to the union.

Although the Government of the United States has thought it expedient to decline " co-operation " with France and England in China, it has taken steps to join in any action upon the spot which may be requisite for the protection of American interests, and which* in fact may assist in protecting1 European interests generally. A person of trust, Mr. W. B. Reed, has been appointed Minister Extraordinary; and on his way from Washington to Canton or to Pekin, he will " communicate " with the Governments at London and Paris—of course in order to explain the character of his own mission, and to obtain information as to the future proceedings of France and England. The naval force at his disposal will be strengthened : a hint that the representatives of the United States in the waters of China will not act in antagonism to France and England, although abstaining from a formal co-operation. Some trouble appears to be prepared for the new American Government as it were behind its back. Judge Drummond, Chief, of the Federal Court in the distant territory of Utah, has reported that the Mormons iv their fanalacism refuse to carry his decrees nto execution: the authority of the Federal

Government is mutinously defied by citizens who are principally emigrants from this country, and whose whole systemof la\vs,religion and morals, equally defy "the constitution and opinion of the-rest of the Union. It seems to be expected that the Federal Government will once more try to put down the Mormons: will they dissolve, or will they make a -stand-up fight, or will they again emigrate to the North-west ?

And there is a still more troublous sign nearer home. In the " empire state " of New York, ajoint committee of the Senate and representatives has reported resolutions which amount to a vehement censure of the "inhuman" decision of Chief Justice Taney in the Dred Scott case, and the initiation of a rebellion against the declared law that " State rights " do not extend to conferring rights of any kind on of African blood. New York is proposing to adopt a law very like that of England", by which the-simple act of standing on its soil would give freedom.

The bleakness of the weatheris ominous, and in Ireland it is 'causing serious alarm. The farmer cannot get at land ; the sowing time for corn and potatoes are passing away; and the possibility that a narrower breadth may be planted with human food has already contributed to the doubling of the priue of potatoes. A change of weather seems to be the universal prayer ; and riots of the people in various parts of the kingdom, to prevent the export of potatoes, show the fierceness of the anxiety. Probably the causes for solicitude are not so urgent in England; y.2t "the weather" is becoming more than a commonplace question. In France, if the season is not quite so backward, the need for abundance is far more crying, and more dangerous. Another bad season would indeed be a calamity there. (week ending may 9.) Manchester has been officially opened by Prince Albert as a great exhibition—the whole town being rendered /or the occasion but a supplement .to the collection of Ar± Treasures that has drawn immense multitudes to the manufacturing centre. Manchester for the moment takes the lead of London, and presents to the world an exhibition of a kind never yet seen, at a day when art exhibitions appear to supersede almost every other display in the country. This week we have "the "Royal Academy throwing wide its doors; the two WaterColour exhibitions had just done so ; the Seddon Collection is introduced to the public, with a lecture by Mr. Ruskin ; the French exhibition challenges comparison with English art: but Manchester puts together the art of all times, all countries, all styles; and. at the suggestion of certain ingenious gentlemen, the manufacturing capital has assembled all nations to show them what the Government and " governing classes" will do for the working classes, their instruction and amusement; and Prince Albert, who— notwithstanding the Court mourning-— consented to net the first part on the occasion, has kept up the excellent series of his public addi esses. But it was, next day, at the uncovering of the statue to commemorate the Queen's visit to Salford, that the Prince uttered a sentence which will perhaps equally astonish both despots and democrats in coming from the mouth of a royal person. He trusted that the future inhabitants of Salford would find in the contemplation of that statue "an assurance that, where loyalty and attachment to the Sovereign, as ike representative of the institutions of the country, are linked to an ardent leve of progress, founded upon selfreliance and self-improvement, a country cannot iail to prosper, under favour of the Almighty." There are few men who could put the pith of our constitution into a sentence so tersely and clearly as the first gentleman in our commonwealth.

The Grand Duke Constautine has continued to enjoy the hospitable attentions of the French Emperor; and he appears to have been brilliantly received by the Parisians, who never will lose the opportunity for display of their grandeur and of themselves, although it is said they do not in their hearts take to the putative heir of Russian ambitions and energy. The gaiety of his reception has been slightly impaired by the formal sympathy which the French Court has shown for our Court mourning, and even by some attention of the same kind to the memory of Lady, Ashbyrton. with whom Count Walewski...is allied by marriage. There is a strange complication of ideas in these associations. Reviews have been got up for the entertainment of the illustrious stranger..; Imperial, -conversations have taken place ; .young Petf.r the Great has conversed tyith Pelissier, and explained to the lucky

Duke of Malekoff how the siege of Sebastopol might have been spared if Lord Raglan's council had been taken. Reports vary as to his having received an invitation to extend his. tour of inspection to our arsenals and Malakoffs.

'General Outram has fulfilled a certain wicked wish entertained in this country, by ano'her military achievement in Persia, just before the news of the concluded peace reached Bagdad. On the 26th of March, the British troops pushed through marshy ground above the bottom of the Persian Gulf, and captured Mohammorah, a town entirelj of modern impoitance on the bank of a canal which unites the two rivers Euphrates and Kooran about forty miles above the mouth of both as they run nearly parallel into the Gulf. Mohammorah is about thirty miles south of Bussorah which it is superseding, as the accumulation of sand is gradually impeding the upward navigation of the Euphrates. The Persians were pursued in their retreat first to Shuster, rather an important town some fifty miles higher up the Kooran,and thence to Ahwaz, a fortified place north-west of Shuster. All this is done, it is said, with the loss of ten men ! It places the British commander in a healthy ground with ample supply of provisions; and it has shown the Persians that they are not safe in Central Asia from the advance of the British. (week ending may 16.) Thus far the first session of the new Parliament gives us a history devoid of trouble. Both Houses have spontaneously fallen into the spirit of Mr. Thornely's caveat; idle talk is curtailed in favour of business, and the business is left in the main to the direction of the leader of the House of Commons, —as if the House itself were a committee of business, and the leader its chairman for one unanimous purpose. True, Lord Palnierston's Government has not been yet put to its crucial tests. The Law-reforms which were promised in the Royal Speech have only come before us again in the shape of bills; and we have yet to see whether the Premier can exercise such force of will over the official representative of law in the Upper House as to wring out of that functionary practical measures which the two Houses will adopt. The Esti? mates appear for the moment by common consent to be kept out of sight; and the taxation for the closing six months of 1857-'B, the latter half of the Budget, has yet to be arranged; and it is probable that the Opposition will concentrate its force on these topics, as the weaker points in the Ministerial policy, on which attack j might be made to look most imposing. Down | to this point, however, little hope has been afforded for any opponents of the Premier.

The tranquil direction is left to him in every form of business. The secondary appointments give rise to no discussion whatever, —whether it is placing Mr. Fitzroy in the position of second Speaker as Chairman of Committees, or Mr. Chichester Fortescue in the Parliamentary As-sistant-Secretaryship of the Colonial Office, the fiat of the Premier is sufficient. The bills that are brought forward by the Government may raise a debate, but • scarcely that. When the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved his resolution preliminary to a bill for the reorganization of Savings-Banks, Members who are an authority in banking, or gentlemen representing the class of savings-banks trustees,"uttered their comments; but the shadow of resistance was evidently made rather for the satisfaction of the mind than for any chance of succeeding.

. This sense of his strength in the House of Commons, with perhaps a desire to increase it, has presented him in a new character. When a question was put about the dispute between the United States and. New Granada, and the protection of British interests in that quarter, Lord Palmerston took the opportunity, of giving information which had not been extorted from him,—as if eager to counteract the idea of diplomatic reserve. With a manner of unusual frankness he contradicted suspicions that the United States aim at anything unfair in that quarter; and he undertook to say for the Government at Washington, that it had only done that which any government ought to do in protecting its own citizens. This is an echo quite in the key of the speech with which Lord Napier has delighted the citizens of the Union, but it is a new key for the official performance of " Yankee Doodle."

The " lorcha " affair is extending into a grand crusade of Christendom against the Celestial empire. Varioas reports on the subject have intimated that other powers would intervene besides France and England. Although the United States do not join in an " entangling alliance," they send a commissary and a squad^ ron. Sardinia is reported to be paying suit and service for her tenure in the councils of Europe by sending a naval contingent to the joint fleet. It must be on purely disinterested or political grounds, since Sardinia has no interest in the tea trade. Perhaps because Sardinia is expected in the waters of China, Austria also is to appear there; and Spain, it is said, will again send an armada round the Cape of Storms, to assist in this grand crusade. Are these reports correct, or are they only magnified by the Ministerial and Opposition journals ? If they are true, what does this demonstration mean ? Are the diplomatic and military conflicts of Europe t» be transferred to the i'ar East ? It is a ground where we are necessarily further removed from our resources, and more exposed in our Indian empire.