English and Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 634, 4 December 1858, Page 4

English and Foreign.

ENGLISH NEWS TO SEPT. _5. Thk Columbian, with tlie English Mail, arTived in Melbourne on the 17th ult.; and the New Zealand boxes were forwarded per "Wonga "Wonga to Wellington on the 20th, xmiving on the 26th. The schooner Matilda Hayes, chartered to bring on the mails for this port and Otago, sailed on the 28th, and arrived hereon -the morning of Wednesday the Ist instant. By this arrival we have -our English files to Sept. .16, and also Melbourne journals of late •date,;ironi which we more conveniently summarise the "European intelligence of the month. The tallowing is the summary of the MclSbourcvc l Herald:— The arrival of the mail steamer Columbian, yesterday, has placed us in possession of intelligence from Europe to the 25th September, America to the 9th of that month. Our Indian dates are Bombay, Oct. 15 ; Calcutta, Oct. 14; Madras, Oct. 16. We have also Cey■Jon papers to Oct. 20th, Singapore Oct. Bth, and China to the 23th September. The Columbian left Suez with the English mail of the 16th Sept., but was overtaken by the Simla bound -for India, a circumstance to which we are indebted for a week's later intelligence from J-lnsflaiKl. The -European news is of very meagre in- * : terest. Tlie principal feature is one of disas-trous-significance. The Atlantic telegraph had • since the'3rd September ceased to convey intelligible signals. The cause of the mishap was unknown, but an'impression prevailed that ' it was attributable" to the "imperfect insulation -of some portion of the cable, inasmuch as a ■/very faint electric- communication still con- - 'tinned, sufficient to indicate that the cable had ndt.parted. It was believed that a flaw in the cable would be "found aboutSOO milesfroniValentia. The inauguration of telegraphic communication with America had been celebrated by banquets both in Ireland and tlie United States, prior to which, messages had been exchanged, by her Majesty Queeu Victoria and .Mr. -President Buchanan, The commercial and monetary news is satis-, factory. Money is remarkably cheap, and trade generally good. To the buoyancy of the -Snoney market must be attributed the circum- - stance that shipments to Australia have been 'heavy. Consols were higher than they had -Teached for some months, the last quotations •being 97f, and there was an idea that the bank iTate of discount would be reduced to 2| per -cent. The London wool sales closed on the -4th August, an advance having been maintained on all sorts since the termination of the -May sales. vThe tenders for the new Australian mail contract were to be received on sth October. The '^following are the principal conditions:— "Monthly, via Gibraltar, Malta, and Suez, calling at King George's Sound, Kangaroo Island, and Melbourne, out and home. Contractors to -smpply no less than six vessels between Suez •andSydnej': to commence by deapatching the -first packet from Sydney with the mails of and from England with the mails of \Mareh next. The mails must be conveyed to •and from .Sydney and Great Britain via the "Straits of Gibraltar, within a period of fifty"tive days, an interval of not less than six days -At Sydney to be allowed between the arrival of the outward and the departure of the homeward mail. Penalties, £100 per day for after time, not increasing, nor for causes over which the -contractors have no control, of which the Admiralty to be judges. An intimation was attached to the government notice, that it was the intention shortly to call for tenders for a second monthly service via Panama. A further extension of two months has been made on "the present arrangements with the TL M. Company to cany the mails up to February next. A report was in circulation at Suez at the time the Columbian left, that Lord Palmerston was dead. The rumour was not, however, confirmed when the Simla sailed—three days after "the departure of the Australian mail steamer. Her Majesty wa3 at Balmoral. The royal visit to Germany was attended with most satisfactory results—Her Majesty having been everywhere received with the acclamations of all classes of Germans. The Queen, on her way to the Highlands, stopped at Leeds to the magnificent town-hall, and her -reception by her loyal Yorkshire siibj.-ots is -reported to have been most enthusiastic. Two or three hundred thousand spectators witnessed the ceremony, and the royal cortege, on its departure, passed through a lane of people three or four miles iv -extent. l'h-i Doncaster St. Leger, which was run for, on the 15th September, was won by Mr. J. Merry's Sunbeam by Chanticleer; Mr.T. Daw--son'a The'llaHp second, and Mr. J. Merry's ■ Blanch^ of Middlebie third, Mr. Howard's :Eu!ipse being last. Eighteen started. A report that obtained currency, to the effect that the Sardinian Government" had ceded to 'Russia the Piedmonkse seaport Villdfranea, had caused some murmuring in England at the an-' parent'desertion by our ;,lly of the common -cause.' But "the s whole'affair has since proved -to be n canard, the Sardinan Government • ihnvituj only consented to allow the Russian*; •»nme facilities for coaling their steamers at' ••Vilhivranca.

Tho..new Indian Council had commenced'its flifctingg at the India House. Lord Stanley* 'judicious .aomillations had rendered him popular.

:The .Promier was with the Queen at Balmotral. 'Muc'n comment had'been excited-by his UorUsliip'fl fine ■ racing' stud having been offered for fc-iile -at •Tattfrsnir.s. 'The •inference/according to soine>df tho London newspapers, to be

deduced from this circumstance, was that Lord Derby intended to devote a closer attention than he had formerly done to politics. It turned out, however, that some of the most valuable animals were bought in, and the public commentators are, consequently, at fault. Mr. John Thomas Smith, the ex-Mayor of Melbourne, having arrived in London, had been selected by some of the journals as an object of interest. Mr. Smith had not been honoured with an interview with the Queen, in consequence of the absence from town of Her Majesty, but Sir E. Bulwer Lytton, and the exLord Mayor of London, with other distinguished public functionaries and personages, had hospitably entertained the ci-devant civic chief. Tlie * Morning Herald' suggests that Mr. Smith should receive "some mark of Royal favour and condescension —a testimonial from Queen Victoria to that remote province which bears her honoured and beloved name." Ver. sap.

The French news is utterly destitute of interest. The King of Prussia was hopelessly insane, and his beloved Berliners were excitinpr themselves about the probable abdication of their monarch- In Turkey, the public finances had become so low through the personal extravagances of the Sultan and his household, that Abdul Medjid had been compelled to show signs of retrenchment, upon the strength of which he succeeded in obtaining a loan. This curtailment of expenses, however, had almost caused a revolt of the Sultan's harem.

The American news is uninteresting. In India, the British were about to open the campaign. In fact, some operations of a desultory character had already taken place in Central India, the latest accounts recording a victory gained by General Michel over the rebels commanded by Tantia Topee, a member of the family of the notorious Nana Saheb. Other engagements of a minor character had taken place with the enemy in other parts of the peninsula, with, unvarying success for the British. An alarming insurrection of two regiments of Bengal Native Infantry which had been disbanded, but subsequently rose in rebellion at "Moultan, had been quelled, the mutineers, with the exception of 300 of their number 'unaccounted for, having been pursued by"our ' and cut up. The cool weather havingsetin,.the Commander-in-Chief was preparingto recommence active operations in Oude, in .

which province the enemy had concentrated a. very powerful force. Affairs in the Punjaub~ and Afghanistan wore a very threatening as-" pect. In China, matters were at a stand-still, the allies awaiting the ratification of the treaty by their respective governments. Mr. Albert Smith had given an entertainment at Hong Kong. A French and Spanish fleet, under the command of Admiral Genouilly, had made a warlike demonstration on the coasts of China, and captured some forts.