ENGLISH NEWS.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 284, 17 February 1849, Page 5

ENGLISH NEWS.

Arrival of the Counr fhom Scotland. — Her M«jes y, accompanied by hib Royal Highness Prince Albert and the royal children, left Balmoral on the afternoon of the 28th ult. for Aberdeen, where the royal party intended to embark on board the royal yacht, but owing to ths ktormy state of the weather, it was determined to proceed by land to Perth. The royal party passed the night of Friday at Royal Hotel, and on the following morning left b> special train on tbe Scottish central and Edinbuigh and Glasgow Railways to Edinburgh, and thence by the Caledonian and Lancaster and by the Carliile to Crewe, where the n'ght «ai passed at the Royal Hotel. Early yeiterday morning the royal party left Crewe, and .irrivcdat Euiton Station about ten o'clock, whence thy pro. ceeded to Buckingham Palace. — Bell't Messenger, Oct. 2.

(From the Observer, October 2 J The foreign events of the week have been numerous and important. Insurrections have been the order of (hi day in Germany. Every succeeding post for three or four dayt brought in'ellijjence of new risings and proclamations of republics. la nearly every instance the insurrections have been put down, and tranquihty restored. Among the inttlltgence of the week is nn incident which may hive a m.nked influence on the future destinies of Spain. The Duche sof Montpensur has been tafely delivered of a daughcer. In France the most interesting occurrence has been the arrival in Pat is of Louis Napoleon, and liis taking his seat in the National Assembly. His legislative debut ex«ited no icnistion either within or without the walls of khe assembly. On taking his sjat the Pi it cc read a short speech, in which he emphatically avowed himself the friend of the Republic and the upholder of social order. Ihe leading subject which has occupied the a ten* ion of the assembly, was the qusstion of one or two Chambers. It was eventually dicided, after a protracted and animated discussion, by a large majority, neaily two to one, t;i«t thetc ih.uld onl; r b? a single Chamber.

The Irish trials are exciting great attention. Lord John Russell's presence as a witnen has been dispensed with. The trials will occupy a considerable timeThe Chartists trials at the Central Criminal Court have a]so excited much attention in this country. On Tuesday, Djwling, the portrait painter, was found guilty, after many hours' deliberation, by the jury. The funeral of Lord George Bentinck took place on Friday. The remains of the noble lord were interred in the family burying ground in Portland-place, Mary« le*bone. Lord John Manrers is spoken of as a successor to the late noble lord in the representation of Lynn. j There has been another meeting of the chairmen of the three great railways, and the belt results are confidently anticipated in ihe railway world from the measures which they ate understood to be concerting for restoring confidence in railway property. There his befn great dullness during the latter pirt of (he week iv the railway market, and prices have blightly receded, though sales have not bjeu pressed, 'lhere has also b. en a flatness in the public funds, with t slight decline in pi ices, The bank retu-ns continue to be favourable to that establishment. The bullion has again incr aied by .£42,000, making the entire amount now in its coflen £13,865,000, The reserve of notes has increa-ed by upwards ot .£400,000, the total amount heing now no l.ss than /.9 926,000. Tha bank was never in a stronger position, and the opinion in the city is, that with to great an amount of unemployed resources, it must very soon hare recourse to a further reduction in the mte of its discounts. W»st Indies.— The West India raail-paoket Ttv'ot brings accounts of a mo->t disas'rous hurricane which took place in the middle of August, by which Antigua, St. Kiti's,and Nevis were devastated, St. Thomas also feeling its effects. At An'igua and St. Kitt's there has been no such loss of life and property for nearly twenty years, ne tlier thfi hurricane of 1835 nor the earthquake ot 1813 being attended with such deplorable results. Daring the latter part of the 21st of August clouds were seen at Antigua gathering from all directions, and hanging motionless ; the heat wa« Urnbly oppressive, but, as the buomater did not indicate anything particular, a lutie rail and thunder only were expected. The redness of the sky and ed lies of wind at sunset occasioned auxiety. In the night the wnd incieased, and a s>toim was anticipa:ed. Every preparation was vapidly made to mitigate its dire effects. At eleven p.m., thu darkness was impenetrable, and the tempest was approaching; up to this period the mtrcury had only fa len, however, one tenth of an inch. At midnight the wind raged furiou ly ; lightning and.thunder were incessant, accompanied by floods of rain. At this time a atvere shock of earthquake was felt, attended by veiy heavy gusts. The gale continued to increase until its fon c was perfect y terrific. By lmlr.pa«t one the mercuiy had fa 1 lea fourtenths of an inch, and the storm at tins time was dreadful. By two a.m. it had abated, and towards morning the cLiy d&wncd as calmly as if the elements had been at peace, and the spirit of destruction had not been disturbed ; but on lookiag abroad on the 22nd the island, which had been studded with neat structures and populous villages, appeared as a waste ot ruobish and mm, It is believed that the south and a id wtst part of the island experienced the wind much more than the north tide, la the old road division ttie devastation was immence. The Governor has suffered a g'-'eat loss of property. In the dockyard all the building! \v t .ie destroyed — soldiers' barracks were luiued, the Middle Ground BuilJmgs thrown into the sea. Government loss in English harbour alone is .£23,000. The Wesleyan Chapel and Lady Grey's School were levelled, and Monk's-hill Barracks destroyed. Throughout the island Iwo tuousiind buildings are unroofed and seven thousand totally decoyed. By far the greater portion of these are the cottages ot the labouring clashes- Tvs hurricane did not e\tend to Barbuda. The number of lives lost is said übe thitty. Authentic accounts of eighteen lnve been re. ceived. Immense numbers of cuttle and stocks of all kind have been destroyed. The largest tiues were torn up by the roots, and houses were lifed twenty yards horn their foundation. — At Sc. Kitt's the humcaue commenced at the oime time as at Antigua Tlie moon changed strangely, the barometer fell, and the skies tveie unusually brilliant. At a jout four o'clock on the morning of the 22nd the hurricane was at us height. During the night shocks of an earthquake was felt. In Pall ma 1-squ re, Irish Tjwd, and rsew To.vn, the spectacle after ths storm was awful. As lor the cownt y, it presented, after the hurricane, a in j fit desolate appearance, as if the simoon of the desert had swept I o»er it. The cane 9, which were btrippel of their leaves, seemed scorched by a hot wind. Every plant was witheied.— .in insurrection had bioken oui at St. Domingo between the blacks and mulattnes. Mr. Thompson, tbe Bi itish consul at Caps Ftancois, Hayti, is said to be killed. — Britannia, Sept. 3 ). A FCMALE EMEUTE AND BARRICADE.— An insurrection of a singular cliari-cter broce out a few days since in the hospital ot the tio.el Dicu, at Marseilles. A number of female patients having shown great insubordination, they w re put for a day upon bre id and water diet. As soon as this was auiiouiced to them, they broke out into the most violent inveutnes against tne surgeon who gave the order, and if he hut not made his escape, the mo*t crutl extremities would have been proceeded to against lyra, for not only were threats of murder uttered, but they were aboui to be carried into execution. The women, after the escape of the surgeon, became quite fu-iou*. They formed au enormous barricade in their ward, with their bedding and whatever they could l<iy hxnds on, behind which they stood wilh their arms akimbo, their eyes flashing fire, singing national i:m,'f, and deltveiing incendia yjspeeches, calling upon each o.her to take an oaih to die rather than capitulate. It became neces•ary to dll in the armed force. Still the fu ieß refused to yuld, and began to breok the windows, and at length ihuwcd a determination to set tire to ths ban lcaile. Fortunately, however, they were at last prevailed upon tj give up their leaders, on condition of Ilia rest being amnestied, and these leaders were at once marched off to piison between two ranks of soldiers ,•— Observer, Sept, 20.

The Chartist Trials.— -The adjourned proceedings were resumed on Monday morning, when Mr. Justice Earle summed up the evidence, and the jury retired. Other prisoners were then brought up, and Mr. Ballantine applied for a postponement, on ths plea thai material witnesses for the defence were absent. The court declined to accede to the application, with an exsoption in favour of one prisoner, who had but just been arrested. The prisoner! were then called upon to plead, and " not guilty" was returned by all ; the celebrated Cuffey saying, in a loud tone, "I demand a fair trial by my peers, according to the principle! of Mogna Charta"— (Laughter). The jury-list was then challenged. Cuffey, however, exclaimed, " I wish to be understood that I do object to this jury. They are not my equals. lam only a journeyman mechanic." Mi. Ballantine: "You must be quiet, and leave it to us." Evidence wai adduced proving the case of the Cr wn. One of the witnesses deposed that he had been very nnxious to be under such a redoubtable leader as Cuffey, because he expected, if he ■ obeyed his ordeis, to become a general, and perhaps eventually president of the commonwealth— (A laugh). On Tuesday, Powell, the approver, gave evidence; and concurrent 'eitimony was also received throughout Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, in reference to the designs and prepara.ions by the prisoners. Powell, it appears, bore among his comrades the title of "Lying Tom; ' one of the witnesses for the defence affirmed that even were Powell on his dying bed, he would not believe his oath ; and he was proved to have declared, that the Apostles were " the biggest scoundrels he had ever heaid of," whilst -Judas was the best fellow of the lot " On Salurday Baron Platt charged the jury, and at ten minutes lo five o'clock a verdict of guilty was returned against the prisoners. The Judge then sentenced Cuffey, Darling, Lacy, and Fay to transpoitation for life. The severity of the sentence caused much surprise in the coarL— -Liver /-oe I Albion, Oct. 2. —This morning, at the Central Criminal Court, several of the remaining Chaitist prioo >ers pleaded guilty. With the exception of Riohip, all who pleaded guilty we;e sentenced either to t«o years' or eighteen months' imprisonment. Ritchie was sentenced to transportation for life. The trials of those who put in a plea oi not guilty will proceed in the usual way.— Obseiver, October 2. The Chariists' Sentences.— Mr. Baron Platt, in parsing sentence on the prisoners, said ;— William D^wlmg, WilUin Lacey, Thomas F<.y, and William, Cuffey, you have bren Hied by two juries of your country, you William Dowhng by one, and the other prisoners by another, and they have arrived at the only conclusion that could be com* to by twelve upright and reasonable gentlemen upon the evidence that had b.ea adduced before them. Tnat you were guilty of the offence with which you were charged, there can be no douot. It is q.iite clear that you intended to levy war against the Queen to compel her by force of anna to alter her counsels ; and with regard to you, William Dowling, it is evident that your ooject in joining with the others was to dismember the empire, and separate Ireland by force of arms from this country. What ri^ht had you to set up your understanding against the expanen .c of mankind ai.d the result of anciejt wisdam? You have chosen to call that which th.3 constitution of the country has branded as felony, patriotism. W oS it patriotism for a number of people to conspire in secret and to endeavour to carry out the misery, wretchedness, and spoil projected by them at their meeting on the 15th of August ? Could it be said that devoting a p aceful city to fhmes, destroying iunocuu citizens, taking possession of the govemmsnt by force and bloodshed, was patiiotiim? The law «uid that such acts were acts of felony, and Dothing Cuuld be more clear than that they were so. It is lamentable to find that peisons of education, apparently poss^ing feelings of minly energy and independence, suuuid have lent themselves to such proceedings with, such a desperate object. Ihe jury have found that you «eic gai ty ot ths crime laid to your charge ; and no one who his heard the evidence can doubt, after the proceedings at the mcc ing on the 15th ol Au,ust, thai you intended, on the tollowing diy, when the shades ot night descended upon this uutortuiiate metioyous, that a scene of murder, firing, and robbery khoulii uave filled this unhappy city, and tiat jou intended to have astuined the government of the country, and luve governed it as you pleased. You have bren convic ed of this most daring defiance of the law, and the Court wou d not be doing its duty, either to the law or to the country, if, when such an offence was clearly estab.ished, it did not make a moat severe example of all those who were brought within the pale ol the law I, therefore, feel it my duly to order that you bi severally tiausported beyond the seas to such, place as lur .\lnjesty, by the advice of her Privy Council, shall duvet and appoint, for the term of your nature live- 1 . When the sentence was pronounced, Fay exclaimed in a loud voi c, " TuU U ths baptism of : lelony in E igland ;" and he then loo>ed up to the gallery, and called, ' Gjod bye, my flowers: good bye, tdlow«cauutiyinen." Tiie other prisoners inadti no observation. 'Ihe Odd Fbllowo' Society. — The bill just come down from the rloute or Lords, to p.ot/ct from fraud and misappropriation the iunds ot the a>socia ion, known as the " Independent Older of Odd Fellows." alleges the identical ground which Lord Beauni nt took in urgi q the measure upon ihe fatourable attention of the Upper House, namely, that the present rato of contubuiions is too low to enable the society ul i« matcly to fulfil all its engagements. It is consequen'ly proposed to affoid proidtion bo^h to tho hociety and Us funds, for tlree years, until the several lodges, by raising their rates ot contribution, can be certified under the provisions of the Friendly Sjcieties* Act. The act, consequently, is to remain m foice oily for three yeais from the date of "us passing. No lodge is to be certified unless accompanied l>y a de< laratioa that thereafter no sec et signs or passivoids wi ! l hi useJ, that no leclurts be circulated orrtnd at the meeting*, and tint the practice ot runeia! orations after the unal service will be discontinued, lieland is specially ex:mpt from the operatijn of the bill, Uule»s the •neuiber in charge or this measure is pretty active and persevering, there is link chance of its becoming law tins session.— London Correspondent of tlm LiVfWQQ Times, dugntt 19, 1848.