MEXICO.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 200, 29 April 1848, Page 3

MEXICO.

New Orleans papers of the 23rd ult. contain intelligence from Vera Cruz to the 16th of the same month. It would seem that under the protection of the American flag, and encouraged by the stiict discipline maintained among the troops, some degree of confidence, and as a consequence, of trade, was reviving; while the chief leaders of the guerilla force, alter quarrelling among themselves, had manifested a desire to be at peace with the Americans, or at least, to cease from molesting them. In the city of Mexico, and in all the other cities antt towns under the subjection of tho American arms,, everything was quiet. ' It was rumoured at Monterey that the States of San Luis, Zacatecas, Durango, and one other, had declared in iavour of Paredus' monarchial scheme, and proffered him 18,000 troops. Senor Iturbide is fixed upon for the throne, in case> of European intervention, which is confidently calculated upon. Many Mexicans in that quarter are hostile to the movement, and are ready to join the United States to- prevent its consummation. Petersbubgii, Y. A., Nov. 26 —Letters from th& city of Mexico, October ■— , state that Atlisco, in Mexico, was en'irely destroyed by an earthquake on the 23rd of Octoher. Not a house was left standing. A large portion of the inhabitants were buried in tho rums. Serious damage was also done to the surrounding country in the villages and monasteries, many of which were overthrown. Louisville, Nov. 25.— 8y the arrival of the traders from Santa Fe, later dates from that quarter had been, received. Another insurrection had taken place among tho Mexicans at Chihuahua, nnd the American residents there forced to fly to escape being massicred, leaving much of their property behind. Colonel Easton wa,s mustering a force to march, against the insurgents, and a baitle was shortly expected to take place. Accounts irom Vera Cruz announces that a dreadful earthquake had taken place on the 23rd October, which almost totally destroyed the town of Colotlan. James River and Richmond have been visited by a tremendous flood, which has destroyed bridges and houses, and it ia feared was attended with great loss of life The Richmond Republican of the 27th ult. gives the following account of this disaster :— " We have to record to-day the greatest freshet in James River that has occurred since 1795. On Thursday morning the water in the river near the city was discovered to be rising quite rapidly. The water continued to rise during the whole of Thursday night, and on Friday morning it reached to an alarming height* overflowing the numerous islands, and threatening de* struction to property bordering on the banks of theiivcr for miles. "At an early hour yesteiday morning, the bridge which connected Yauxhall's Island with Mayo's Long Bridge, was cariied off, leaving several inhabitants of. the island entirely without the means of getting from their perilous situation. Nor did the main bridge itself escape, for we have also to record the fact that Mayo's Bridge has been entirely earned away. A portion of the bridge on the south side of the toll house was swept off abaut 12 o'clock, and in an hour afterwards the entire span, reaching from the Richmond side to the island, on which the toll house stands, was also taken down the rushing tide, carrying on it seven per&ons, none of whou\ however were harmed,

To the Editor of the New Xenfandcr. Sm, You will tavor me by publishing the following correspondence, from the lVtllumtott Independent, foi ihe intoriiint on of the Evangelical Protestant iiortion of oui community. Your's &c , A kUBSCRIBBR.

To tut. Editor of the iNDEPENncNT. Sir,—-As your's seems to be the leading Journal in this place, imiy I bo allowed to avail imyseU of its columns, for the insertion of the following letter, though on 'i mutter of loci! interest. 1 nould not It >ye taken "=0 em uitoue a route, had a straighter path been open before me. I am, Sir, "Yours respectfully, 11. h'ANbOv TUIITON.

To tub Settlers ov Nr.w Pi.ymottw. Feb.ll, IS4B. I\ry dear Friends, —The fart of my having lecenlly icfu*eii to inter the child of John Ho' Ler, in the Kpisccipnh.in oemeteiy of this plm\ has given rise to such vague reports that I «m induced to offer you the following statement in explanation of mv condutc : and I Juve little doubt hit >ou will conclude With me, that under the ciicumstunces I could not have acted otherwise. You Will remombpr, that for five months affpr.the decease of the late Rev. William Bolland, the Episcopalians of New Plymouth weie strangely left wi(h"Ut a resident Minister, dm ing which cime I was called upon to i ter no fewer th.in five mdividu..ls in the remcteiies connected t\ith ih.U Chuicli. This I did without the least Fcrup'c, and w th the full sanction of thepioper authorities: nor did lii'-hop Seh\yn at any time p\piess hisdisuprroval of such interments, or take any measure to supersede them. When, theiefore J made application to have those burials officially entered in the Register, I vras rather fiuiprised to meet with a refusal, especially as such registry is purely of civil institution, and therefore ordained to be observed by all civilized States. Dr. Selwyn proposed (hat the entries ihould be made by Mr. Govett on his anival, from a certificate to be supplied by myeelf To this method I took exception, and stated my objections in a letter which was duly forwarded to Bishop Srlwyn. He then proposed that they should beente ed by Mr. Butt, without certificate: and in regard to myielf, made a polite relerence to the 9th, 10th, 11th. and 12th rations of the church of England. From their length I cannot quote the whole, but I will extract the 12ihas a specimen of the re&t, both in tendency and spirit. " Whosoever shall hereafier affirm, that it is lawful for any sort of ministers and lay ptrsons, or either of them, to join together and make rule?, orders, or constitutions, in c&uses ecclesiastical, without the King's authoiity, and shall submit tliemse'ves to be mled and governed by them; let them be e>communicated ipso facto, and not be restored until .hey repent, and pub liclv revoke thebe their wicked and Anabaptisticul errors." What excellent sentiments are these, and how well* adapted to the middle of the 19th century, and to a Colony hke New Zealand, with the new Constitution to begin with ! And how exceedingly apropos to refer us back to refer us back to the days of King James lor proof that the Wesleynns and Anabaptist 9 are the same wicked set of people! Truly the ancients were not far wrong in supposing that by the time a man reached the antipodes, he would be "fourd standing on his bend," So much for antiquated Canons; and I have only to observe, that if such be the kind of ammunition they are charged with, we are not likely to icceive much damage from a. whole artillery of such cannons as these " vox—et prteteiea nihil," But to return—on receiving a copy of the note above alluded to, in which such exceptionable references were made, I addressed the following letter to Bishop Selwyn :— Mission House, New Plymouth, December 16, 1847. Reverend Sir —Mr, Chilman has foi warded to me a copy of your letter of the 23rd ult., in reference to the registration of the burials at whi. h I was called upon to officiate, in the absence of another Clergyman. The circumstances under which those inteunents took place, were of so mournful a character as to excite much regiet that you shuuld have alluded to the registration of tlum by myself, in so unkind a manner; especially as such conduct has a direct tendency to injure our common principles in the opinion of ungodly men. Under the circumstances of the case no'hing could be so unseemly as the leference made to the four separate canons which you quote—for not only are they very absurd and unscriptural in themselves (und for that reason, probably, become obsolete in England;) but, as jou must see at once are quite inapplicable to a country like this, where there is no particular Church »c by law established." The Wesleyans derive their ministry by virtue of a higher canon than those of the Anglican Church, on whom the latter are not in the least degree binding, either by law, conscience, or any other consideration. I had not the least idea in my letter, of laying claim to the ncin'stry " within the meaning of the 70th canon." Such an assumption would have been ridiculous on my part. About twelve years ago I was on the verge of entering myself at Cambridge, with an especial reference to the Ministry of your Communion, but was graciously preierved from taking the final ftep— and for my deliverance on that occabion, I have ever felt extremely thankful. Knowing however, your sciuples on the subject, I had no wish whatever to register the interments, in any other character than as " officiator," supposing that a note might be added, stating the afflictive circumstances of the case. My only desire was, and now is, to secure to the survivors, the legal registration of the burial of their deceased friends, and on that point lam still left in as much doubt as before. Having made no objection to the performance of the religious rite, I was surprised 'to find you demur to the mere recording of such an act in the register. I havealnayslamented that the early death of my late friend, the Rev. Mr. Bolland, should have laid upon me the duty of performing the last earthly rite over the remains of any of his flock—but having performed that duty in the spiiit of Christian sympathy and affection, I did not expect an immediate reference to be made to certain Eccles astical Canons of ancient date, which pronounce my ministry as |C schismatical" —my Church a "conventicle"—and myself "ipso facto excommunicated !" You may hold me to be so for any harm it does me, but the present is hardly the best time to say i f ""t be lUrm me to assume the position ot a comt '- k i),: but I do thmk th w the services wLich I have r ' i a I" the members of jour Church in this |)l-ce, dv:.j b .h ;i ■,t five uio ,ths, in which thej lime beci wi huuc a Minister, auuthat, too, without a sin le attempt to proselyte hii individual of them, whether Englisn or Native, entitle me to rather more courtesy aud less disrespect, than has been manifested by yourself on the present occasion. Well-knowing, however, the force of prejudice, you havo my free forgiveness;

assuring you ai the same time that with respect to myself, you will never have another opportunity of conirnitiing so gieata breach of Christian charity. I remain, Reverend Sir, Your's tru y, 11. Hanson Tukton. The Rev. Dr. Selwyn, Episcopalian Bishop of New Zealand, St. John's College, Auckland. It will thus be seen that I bad declined to render .my raoie services of a ministerial character to my Episcopalian biethren, long before the present applU alto" wa 1 - made : and I leave jt to others to judirc, whether or no 1 had sufficient reason for doiny; so. Ou this account I am glad that the request camp from a member of my own congregation, who merely w shed to lay the corpse of one child in the tomb of another : thus y-h< wing that my refusal could not arise from any ill It-eliug towards the member of another church. On the contra' y, roy respect for them is as sine* re as cvei it was : but for their Bishop (as such) I luve not the leatt ri'spect. In all matters of an ecc'csinsticil nnture, from his first an it al in the conmiy, he Ins evinced nothing but a spirit of bigotry and exdusnisin : and towaids a confirmed bigot, it is impossible, for -my length of time, to entertain sentiments of respect. To plead conscience is of no avail, as ngamst true charity: and without such chanty, all other excellencies aie as nothing. I have only to add, in conclusion, thnt had the Legislative Council continued its sittings, I should have applied tor such an extension of the new Registration Ordinance, as would liuve included the cases referred to. As it is, however, being left without legal inser. tion in the registry of their own communion, tha only s-aMWactton which I can offer to the relatives of the deceased, is to make an entry of interments in the Registry provided for my own congregation. Truly your's, H. Hanson Turton. Mission House, New Plymouth.