THE DAY'S NEWS

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 648, 22 January 1859, Page 3

THE DAY'S NEWS

(From the Liverpool' Northern Times,' Oct. 23.)

An interesting soirde in connection with the Manchester AthenJEum, took place on Thursday evening. The attendance included Lord John., Russell, Judge Haliburton, Professor Aytbun, Sir James Brooke, William Brown, Esq., M.P., and a number of other celebrities. Thes chair was occupied by Lord Stanley jof Alderley. His remarks were riot of much 'moment." He is of opinion that the Government ought not to advocate compulsory education, and that' children should leave school as soon as their1 parents found that their labour was necessary for their: support. .The establishment of mechanics' institutes gave these young persons the opportunity of: gaining knowledge, and it only wanted a proper, system to be carried out, for every;lad to avail liirriselfof the chance\of gaining information. Lord J. Russell, in his remarks, alluded to the wide-spread-ing influence of newspapers. " ; But I find," says ;the noble lord, " some people,are a; good deal struck ■With the fact, first, that the newspapers are a great .object of attraction, and next, that novels- and works of that description are fvery much read. ' It has been my fortune to be. in the'country houses ofpersons who, possessed of: great, fortunes, had.magnificent libraries. Bufwhen I haye i; fQund a party assembled !in- these hpuses.of,some twenty or flye-and-twenty persons, I have always observed that the first object of attraction was.the newspaper, and that ,the,next object of attraction was a novel; and that out of the five-and-twenty, if there were five who looked at other' works, who studied history,- or attended; to works of science, it; was as much as*you could expect. One class, I believe, is very like another in this respect.: And in examining-lending libraries, such asjthere are in this.town, I find thatithe result iof the cursory examination I have;,made is, that in ;this .society, of about 28,000 books taken out ; to read, there were about 17,000 or nearly 18,000.0f novels, and. about 10,000 of works of. history and of all other descriptions* , I think that is a very creditable account. , So far from being shocked at the quantity of iiovels that are read, I really do not wonder that.-men who have occupations that give them ■ a great deal of care and anxiety,; should resort to those delightful fictions which usually go; by the name of novels, and that they -should seek in -those pages relaxation after their harassing employments."; Lojrd John proceeded to give ,the [audience some adyjtee as to the- branches of literature .they, should study, and concluded by stating that we, must rely in a great part upon the ministers both of the Established Church and of the various.denominations, in order to(induce ; that greater conformity to Christian,precepts which we ought .ill to desire. Judge Haliburton and Mr; Monckton Milns expatiated upon the services rendered by the founders of the Athenaeum to the cause of cheap literature and the promotion of sound knowledge among the people. It was both instructive and gratifying to see. a Liberal statesman and a.distinguished Tory politician and poet vying each other in.eulogy of the Manchester 'Athenaeum, and the Manchester Free Library, and uniting: their recommendations to' other, towns to imitate the example.

The last mail from India brought an important document. It is an address of the Reform League of Calcutta, in favour of the conduct of Lord Ellenborough,- and heartily commending the despatch 'against the confiscating policy of Lord Canning.

■ ;Mr.nfieadlam and !Mr. Eidley have addressed their Newcastle constituents. The first spoke in very general terms of the kind of Reform Bill which the Government ought to introduce; the last thought it best to give,no pledge whatever on the subject.

Our Paris; advices are .to-, the-effect .that the Minister of the Interior seems at last to have resolved to remove from the Erench nation that jreproach of inhospitality which the new passport Regulations have drawn upon it. ; It is not yet said!in what exact way the Minister will make good his intention, which the ' Constitutionnel' announces, of; preventing passports being made: a " cause of delay and pretext for petty vexations " instead of protecting the bearer against them, but the announcement shows that something effective is intended. The Council of State sat on Thursday for the first time since the vacation, M. Baroche in the chair. It is believed that several important bills, and amongst them one for endowing a new creation of nobles, and another (proposed by the. Senate) for establishing a rurar code, will be immediately discussed.

It is. stated that a difference between Piedmont and: Naples, relative to the capture of a Neapolitan vessel in the Sardinian; waters, has^ been satisfactorily arranged, thanks to the friendly and unofficial intervention of the French Government. - : :■...•:

Telegraphic intelligence from the east of Europe announces the first sitting of-the Constantinople conferences on the Montenegrin affair. It also confirms the rumour, brought by the last mail, of the Turks having been beaten and put to flight by the Black Mountaineers; and there is a rumour, of Prince Danilo marching against Grahovo. Serious complications may arise out of this conflict. Another explosion is imminent in Candia, and in Albania the Turkish troops are exasperating the Christian population. • . ■■ ■■'■■'■ Count de la Rochefoucauld, an attache to the French embassy at Rome, has just arrived in Paris, and some think that he has brought despatches on the subject of the abduction of the Jewish child Mortari. A French translation of the Pope's apology for this atrocious act is now printing in Paris, and will sjhortly appear.

A message has been published, received at Valentia through the Atlantic telegraph, from Newfoundland. That message was simply the words " Daniell's;now in circuit." In transmitting this message to the newspaper, the secretary, Mr. George Saward," says:—" It would : appear . that by the application of extraordinary and peculiar battery 'power at Newfoundland, in accordance with the instructions of Professor Thomson, of Glasgow (one of the directors of the company), it has be^n possible to' convey, even through the defective cable, jtlie few words,recorded by Mr. Bartholomew, in this ;message tome this morning. This, however, though encouraging, must not bo regarded as a perinanont state of things, as it is still clear there is a serious fault in the cable, while nt the same timo it ia not iat,present absolutely clear that any, except the most extraordinary and (to the cable) dangerous efforts jcap bej^made, more especially on this side, to orerr Icbihe the existing obstacles in; the wa/ of perfect |worldbg>-"; •:.;■■•■■■.■ •"•■.■;■ :/■■ 7 „..'. \. i -The 'Morning Advertiser,' mourn? over "the

present deplorable .condition of tbeChurch of Eng* land,"—asserts that "the State is virtually endowing Popery, inasmuch as the majority of the livings in the establishment are held by persons who are more or less deeply tainted by the leprosy of Puseyisti), which is (synonymous with Popery," and contends that a Free Church of England is manifestly the great want of the time.

' Accounts received from the. frontiers of Russia, dated the 12th instant, inform us that the disturbances which have taken place in the eastern provinces of Russia arc more serious than tbey were stated to be. Several, peasants from the German provinces on the Baltic have been transported to Siberia. A traveller, arrived from the southern provinces of Russia, states that the insurrection of the peasunts there has assumed a serious character. The Emperor Alexander shows himself everyday more determined to carry out his plans of reform. Some of the nobility.nrc raising difficulties in his way. Their conduct, it is feared, will increase the agitation which prevails.

It seems now to be fully recognised in Paris that the French Government.was imposed on in the matter of the Tetusm outrage. No consul of any power has been 'murdered in Morocco. The Emperor is said to have laughed heartily at being the victim of such 'a canard.

It is stated in Austrian diplomatic circles that the French Government refused to permit England to act as either arbitrator or mediator between France and Portugal. Tue conduct of the French. Government in the affair of .the; Charles George 3 has been severely animadverted on in Vienna.

; According to the Paris correspondent of the 'Globe,' the last India mail brings important details as to the development of Muscovite power at the mouth of the Amoor. Before it disembogue 3 into the gulf of' Nicelajaw, this mighty stream approaches the sea by a bend so as to be only sixty yersts or forty miles from the gulf of Castries, and, to obviate the banks of sand at its junction with, the ocean, the Russian engineers propose a railway from the admirable roadstead last named. The name is French, and was given to this part of the coast by the celebrated navigator, La Perouse, whose fate, involved in mystery, occupied Europe at the close of last century. Castries was then. French Minister of Marine." The exploring steam frigate America, by the report of its Russian captain, found a still more serviceable bay further south, Opposite the Japanese island of Matzniai, and no similar craft had ever been seen in those waters.

! Mr. Barry Sullivan; the distinguished tragedian, was yesterday presented with a piece of plate, by a number of his admirers, .before his departure foe America. ■■•■.•..-.■■.

The Bank Returns for the week are not so satisfactory as last week. There is a "decrease of .£230,431 in bullion, and of £495,195 in the reserve of notes. , .