ENGLISH NOTES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 13, 22 April 1871, Page 8

ENGLISH NOTES.

The Bishop of St. David's created much surprise in the Upper House of Convocation yesterday afternoon by announcing that, in consequence of the resolution which was carried by their Lordships on Wednesday, with regard to the exclusion of Unitarians, he had determined on resigning his position as one of the revising company, of which he had been the chairman. He thought that the qualification for revision of the scriptures should be one of scholarship alone. In fact it was undesirable to have all the translators of one mind in regard to doctrine. The

Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol and others expressed their regret at this determination, and the Bishop of London moved a resolution tending to show that the motion of yesterday was one essentially calculated to avoid sectarianism. The" Bishop of St. David's was at the same time urged to withdraw his resignation, but he absolutely declined. The Bishop of London's resolution was then carried unanimously. Professor Fawcett was the only member who went into the lobby on Thurspay night in support of Mr Taylor's motion ; and the fact of the hon. gentleman being blind, and there being no member to guide him through the papsage, created some merriment. Sir Robert Peel created a bit of a sensation by some characteristic remarks. He said that Mr Gladstone's speech of the other night as good as implied that the marriage of the Marquis of Lome, a member of the House of Commons, and the son of a member of the Government, had been arranged at the direct instigation and with the advice of her Majesty's Government. With some vehemence, he declared that the marriage was an impolitic one, and that as a loyal subject of the Queen he did not like it. He ventured to wish the Royal Princess all happiness in her marriage, but he was sure that the country would be of the same opinion as himself —that it was an impolitic marriage, and he for one would infinitely have preferred to have seen the daughter of the Queen married to the son of a royal or princely family instead of accepting the hand of the son of a member of her Majesty's Governmet upon the advice of Her Majesty's Government. Few of our readers are perhaps aware that since the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 it has always been the custom to search beneath the Houses of Parliament just before they are opened. This now ancient ceremony was duly performed on Thursday week by a party of her Majesty's Body Guard of Yeomen, under the command of Captain Morley, the Exon on duty, accompanied by the officials of the House, Marshalmen, &c. The procession by lantern light through the vaulted chambers, with the antique costume of the Yeomen of the Guard, had a very picturesque effect. —" Times." I have received this mysterious communication, which I do not profess to understand :—" I cannot refrain from telling you that in the respectable South London district, a house, being empty and in wretched repair, became suddenly handsomely furnished with almost new goods, and bills announcing the sale of the contents by auction, without the slightest reserve, and by order of the proprietor, were freely posted about as far as South Norwood and Croydon. Many came from these localities. There was likewise a policeman to keep order in case the bidders should fall out. The result I need not tell you ; but. the public looked at the whole proceedings with a very jealous eye, and the effect was not what the proprietor expected." t Can anybody down Camberwell way 'throw a light on this mystery ?—" South London Press." As showing what " fools the three per cents are," as Sydney Smith says, the publication of the terms which Germany is supposed to have offered to France, has depressed trade throughout the country enormously. One does not see the relation of cause and effect in the matter, but the fact remains. In the Lancashire cotton markets business is paralysed. In the Yorkshire woollen districts trade is at a sandstill. Sheffield stands aghast. The only great town where trade is brisk is Birmingham.— " Graphic." The " Cambrian" says :—" South Wales has for so many years yearned for a third rail, or the narrow gauge, without avail, that we fear almost to communicate the good.news that the directors of the Great Western Railway have decided to make their system narrow gauge, excepting only the portion between the metropolis and Swindon, which is to remain broad with a third rail. The news is so gratifying and important to the staple interests of this great mineral country that we make this announcement under reserve, although from our source of information we have every belief in its correctness."