" Argus " Specials.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 308, 28 December 1881, Page 2

" Argus " Specials.

(Per Ringarooma at the Bluff.)

t, Loxdok, Dec. 15. M. Roustan, the French Resident in Tunis has prosecuted Mr Rochfort, the editor of Intranstyolt, an extreme Radical journal published in Paris, for libel in having falsely accused him in the columns of his paper of having promoted the outbreak of hostilities in Isorth Africa from a corrupt desire to , n ene . ; hls peculations on the Bourse in Tunisian bond*. The trial lasted for three days and was watched with great interest. wJ eSU !I n tbe ac iuittal of Rochfort When the decision was announced the spectators in the Court applauded loudly A profound sensation has been created br the verdict not on!j in the capital but throughout Prance. Roustan has been con dernued to pay the costs of the action. The British Government are negotiating with the United States, Germany, and France the three Powers primarily interested ia the south Seas for the creation of an International Court of Control in the Western Pacific. Pending the conclusion of such arrangements the Admiralty will take additional precautions for the protection of British subjects', and for maintaining a more watchfpl supervision over the mutual relations of the white and native races in the raciflc.

In compliance with an undertaking given to the House of Commons some months »™ by Mr Trevellyn, Secretary of the Admiralty communications hare been exchanged between the britisn and French Governments with respect to the annexation by the latter of Rant* a, one of the Society Islands The irench Government expresses its desire to retain possession of the island.in order that the prestige of the Republic in the South Seas may not suffer. The British Government reply that if they recognise the treaty under which the island had been ceded to Prance care must be taken to secure .not only -that the interests of British trade are protected, but that the pledges given fd the natives of the group.are respected. Earl Kimberley has informed the Government of Natal that the administration of «ffaif 8 connected with the Transvaal has been entrusted to Sir Hercules Robinson, the High Commissioner for South Africa Tho repreientativea of twenty British Üble Compamea waited upoa Eirl Granville, Secretary of State fer Foreign Affairs, yesterday . D d requested 1 hat- the Government would take steps to protect the oce*a cab.es from cara esa aud wilful interference It is rumored that .Mr George Enington the member for County Longford, who is Tianing Kome, has tneu. entrusted with a mission by the British Government to the Vatican. l)r Vaughan, Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford, has stated that Mr Jmngton holds conflJentJal instructions troui the Governmant although not an accredited Minister. It is reported that Moneignor Jacobs, Sscratary for Euoleiusti cal Affair* .Extraordinary, beir.g disappointed With the progress of the. negotiations has taken the m»tter into his own hands with the view of facilitating a settlement. The balloon which drifted across the English Channel on Saturday last, baa been seen off Alderney, the moat northerly of the Channel Islands, ajid H.M.S. Dishsr was despstched in tha directisn in which the balloon eeemed travelling for the purpose of picking up ihe occupants of the car should they be able to descead The Dsiher, howevtr, returned to her station here The commander reports that hi* aearch for thfe baiioon was fruitless.

TheMarquiiof Lome, Gerernor-General of the Cauadiaa Daminiong, last eysuinff addressed a m ee ti Dg o f those iatere.ted in tke Womm'j Emigr»tion Society in Eogland tie proposed that the Comrai tees orgauiwd m England should be affliiatod with the" committee astablidhed in the coloniea, and' that the two should work i Q nniOD, th« OQB collecting «nd despatching luitable emigraflti to the colonial dependencies of the Empi-* and the other watchiog ortr the intsreita of ; the immigranti on their arriral. The diupositioa exhibited by Mr Blaina .ate Secrstary of State for the United States, to interfere in the aftairs of I foreign nations, is resented by many Americans as an iofringment of the national policy of neutrality abroad.

The Engligb press denounceii the proposal of Mr Blame to revise the Bulwer-Clayton treaty for the purpo 8e of giving the Uoited btates exclusive jurisdiction oTor tbe Panama Canal.

Chili reasserts her right to annex Peru A slave dhow has been captured eff Zanzibar, and her captain was made a prisoner With regard to the disappearance of Viscount Boyle, a lieutenant in the Prince Consort's own Eifle Brigade, from the g, - rneon in Dublio.it turns out th.t the Viscount is only absent without leave

A Fenian plot to destroy some public buildings id Dublin ha? be n frustrate* by the activity of the police, who bare seised a quaotiteof dynamite, which was concealed in the city. They also seized a number of firearmß, aud some dojumems which indicate the character of the plot and implicato some conspirators. Toree persons hare already been arrested.

The balloon which drifted Tacroas the English Channel on Saturday the 10th mat has been again sighted. It has be»n oarrisd across the B*y of Biscay, and has been seen at Sontander, a port in the north of Spain It was then proceeding in an eaiterly direel tion. J

Another plot to murder the Czar Alexander 111, has just been discovered. The plan propos«d was to blow «p the Imperial palace at Gatchioa by meam of a mine. A num. ber of the officers of the guard bare been arretted on EUBpicion. In ipite of the efforts of the Gorersment" to put down terrorism and intimidation they are still widely resorted t« by the Land League and its agenta. In all parti of Ireland placards have been discorer«d, threatening death on all who disobey ths mandatei of the Land Leagues or in anyway submit to ci abhshed Government, The police authorities are endeavouring to discover the agent employed in distributing aad posting the placards. Strong eympathy is entertained with Parnell, now confined in Kilmninhani Gaol. A large number of tenant farmerg and laborers assembled on his estate at Wicklow, and performed the necessary operations of ploughing. Orer 8000 assembled to undertake the work, which was done gratuitously. This action has occasioned considerable comment.

The greatest sympathy continues to be felt at Vienna for the families of those who perished by the terrible catastrophe at the King Theatre. Subscription lists to aid the snfferers hare been started at Vienna, to which all classes are contributing the Emperor and R- yal family heading the list The Knaperor of Austria, who is staying at Goodollo, a small town about 15 miles from Pehth, the capital of Hungary, which he usually viMts during the hunting season has publicly expressed his sympathy with' the sufferers by the recent catastrophe at the King Theatre, He has ordered that a solemn requiem mass be performed to the memory of those who perished on that occasion 8 fcThe island of Chio 8 , off the We«t Coait •I Aela Minor, it hub )»■ dnriog tb> la§t

few months been the scene of great volcanic disturbance!, appears now to be gradually sinking, and it is feared the whole island will be submerged.