SUMMARY OF NEWS TO MARCH 25. [From the Home News.] " What will ye do in the solemn day."— Hosea.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 215, 21 August 1847, Page 3

SUMMARY OF NEWS TO MARCH 25. [From the Home News.] " What will ye do in the solemn day."— Hosea.

Our Postscript contains a brief account of the proceedings at Court, in Parliament, and id the metropolis generally, on the Great Fast, which the Queen proclaimed as a day oi humiliation — a day cf beseeching mercy for Ireland. London is again awake after the general sleep of the Fast Day, which was observed with much more reverence than is common on such occasions. The aspect of things not only in Ireland but England also, is too awful to permit ol any trifling ; and this impression appeared to have fallen very deeply on the minds of the public yesterday. True, there was the usual number of mere holiday makers, who had no other motive than idleness in their abstinence — fiom labour. All the railway trains were crowded, steamboats overthronged, and all the issues of the city early filled with vehicles, bearing their portion of the heart of London into the country. In the obscure portions of the town, ordinary business proceeded ; and in some large manufactories the men were locked in at an early hour to work, will, an allowance of food and beer, and they were not let out again till seven in the evening, thus appearing to men to fast, but inwardly their days were as other days. With these exceptions, and as far as the main avenues were concerned, we never witnessed more perfect S<tl>bjth-keeping. The solemnity was general, and might have been considered ominous or auspicious, according to the feeling of the looker-on. This last — but, far more its melancholy cause — has given a character of sadness to all the fortnight's news. The parliamentary history of the period commenced on the 6ih, within a very few hours after the dispatch of the mail. Ireland was still the topic. Lord Brougham it) the House of Lords, and Mr. Roebuck in the Lower House, arraigned the landlords of Ireland, 'and held them, as a body, up to public indignation."* 'I fie storm of wrath that broke upon their devoted leads, had not spent all its force on Tuesday, the twelfth debating night, when Ireland, still unhappy Ireland, continued the subject of discussion. Progress has been made in the ministerial measures, most ol which have been modified; but Lord r Brougham lomplains, with petitioners from Liverpool, Bristol, and Glasgow, that the sums supplied to Ireland by the sympathy oi England have been sh-ttnefully misapplied. That th^se landlords availed themselves of the distress of their countrymen, and the charity of ours, to provide employment, for their iaroihes and retainers ; or what- was still worse, that the money so collected had been expended in purchasing a passage in the steamer for muhiiu les of poor creatures, who, starving at home, might, as it appeared to be believed, find food «nd fitting employment here in England. Many proofs were given not only of the landlord joubing, but also of the pauper transportation. Mr. Roebuck's remedy was an extension "of the income-tax to Ireland. He knew, be said, that he was opposed in the cabintt by the Irish interest*, which prevail

there. He pointed out several members of tin ministry who held land largely in Ireland, and whose representations had overcome the couiage of the premier. He spoke bitterly of the Celts as a nation, and of the landlords as a class. Mr. Labouchere deeply regretted that an important discussion should be commenced with barbed words, which would rankle in the Irish breast ; and Mr. Shaw advanced some statistical reasons why the taxation of England ought not to be extended to Ireland. For instance, " England," he said, " was a rich, commercial, and manufacturing country; Ireland was a poor agricultural country. In Great Britain the pop-ilation was little more than double what it was in Ireland. But while the cultivated laud in England amounted to 34,000,000 acres, in Ireland it amounted to 14,000,000; and in England the produce amounted to £150,000,000 a-year, while in Ireland it was only £36,000,000. In Ireland, however, the number of labourers was two to one what it was in Englandt in proportion to the quantity of cultivated land/ and four to one as regarded the produce of the land. The rental of England, again, was £70,000,000, of Ireland only £6,000,000. Take one county in each of the two countries as an example — Mayo mnd Norfolk. The acres of both were about 1,300,000 or 1,400,000 acres. In Norfolk the rental was £2,000,000, in Mayo it was £326,000. In Ireland there were about 2,500,000 persons ordinarily destitute, and about 2,000,000 more, who, in Eng and, would be considered entitled to parochial relief. Under such circumstances it must be obvious to any reasonable man, that measures ca culated for this country might not be equally applicable to treland." In the course of these discussions there was the question of the number cf deaths by lami c in Ireland. The ministry found it difficult, if not irnpossi* ble, Mr. Labouchere said, to supply accurate returns. Lord G. Bentinck said it could be easily done. The deaths fiom starvation now averaged 1,423 per week. He desired to see a comparative statement of the deaths per week Idst year. It was necessary too to compare the quantity of food imported during the short period of preparation allowed to Sir Robert Peel and the long notice given to Lord John Russell. He held that the comparison was greatly in favour of ihp former. When the Irish landlords weie declared to have done their duty amply, Lord John Russell denied i it. The rate for relief of the poor in England averaged, he said, 7^>l. m the pound. Iv Ireland the average was sfd. In Skibbereen, where the misery was most appalling, and the deaths most numerous, the pr. perty was worth .£130,000 a-yiar, the rate was 61. in the pound; and a rate of 31. per pound additional, granted last November, had nev- r been levied.— (Hear, hear.) Mr. W. S. O'Brien said, the deaths from famine m Ireland now numbered twenty-four thousand, all of whom might have been saved if Parliament and the Government had done their duty. He called all the world to witness that his countrymen had been allowed by England to perish like vermin. Mr. Hume coulJ not allow this imputation on the humanity of England, the only fault of which was being in excess; but he dreaded lest the great efforts made by the true benevolence of the country would increase the existing evil. We have good reason to know that this ung ateful spint is not shared by the countrymen of Mr. O'Brien generally ; their public acts and private letters show the deep nupres.-ion ma ie upon the heart of Ireland by the benevolence and sympathy of England. Mr. W. S. O'Brien proposed a tax on absentees of ten per cent, as a minimum, and quoted precedents from the Parliaments of Henry IV. and Henry VIII. It is somewhat strange that a modern repealer should be willing to re-enact some of the laws of the Pdle, passed to enforce the residence of the English colony in terrorem over the " wild Irish.?. Many Irish members took part in these debates, and by their ready defence of individuals gave an idea of the unity of the class tor which they have not received credit. There was, however, no originality of suggestion ; many nostrums for the woes of Ireland are mentioned, but no practical good effected. John O'Connell, on whom the mantle is sup posed to have fallen, had nothing better to say :ban that he had sought carefully through the English journals and coul i find no plan among them for the salvation of Ireland. The Economist had incurred bis especial wrath, because of its avowed belief that nothing should be done for Ireland. The Poor Relief Bill — a permanent measure — is passing through the committee of the House of Common ; the Loan to Landlords Bill — a million and a half for permanent improvements — is also advancing to maturity ; and bills for the cultivation of waste lands, the treatment of fever patients, end other lemedial measu.es, are announced. But eight millions of money for public works, and all the bills enumerated, are nothing at- compared with the unreasonable demands > of somfr and the overwhelming distress of other parts of the country. No

step that Parliament may take can, it is feared, prevent a fearful increase of all the symptoms of the present famine next year. The Times says — " That it is an actual extremity we have to deal with, even with our professional habits of incredulity and all our powers of shifting, we cannot doubt. All the accounts agree. From the most authentic sources, we hear that her Majesty's vessels on the Scotch and Irish coasts, find they are already too late to p. event the most awful, the most wholesale catastrophes. We might fill whole columns with narratives of the hideous scenes which have met the eyes of those officers employed in ascertaining the actual state of things, and in the distribution of food. But there is a melancholy sameness in them — that sameness which the historian :ind the scholar will recognise as pervading the records of famine in all ages and climes. From papers written by eye-witnesses now lying before us, we could transcribe the most harrowing details of whole families running a race of death ; sometimes either parent sinking first — fathers lately at work, mothers nursing their children : sometimes the babe in arms perishing from mere stoppage of the natural supplies, sometimes the elder children falling, as it were, one over the other. We read of cabins crowded with the dying and the dead ; the latter either lying unburied because there is no strength to move them, or buried, if buried, in gardens and ditches. Extensive districts, parishes containing many thousands, are already in this evil case, and a worse must come. How is this state of things to be met? Not by a scientific enunciation of the principles of political economy; not by protests against Government feeding the people ; not by obligations of past improvidence; not by complaining of the inactivity and selfishness of those whose duty in the first instance it was to relieve, if not obviate, this calamity. It is an actual famine, and can only be met by feeding the sufferers as plentifully, as methodically, as our means and opportunities will allow." The latest arrivals from America, vide Times of this morning, bring further contributions tor Ireland from the State legislatures, communities, corporations, and individuals of all classes, and in all possible varieties of amount. The most affecting class of contributors are the poor exiles, who send somewhat to the relief ol poorer friends at home. " The number of small sums transmitted by successful emigrants to enable their Irish relatives to follow them across the Atlantic is something enormous. One bank alone at Liverpool has received 413 separate orders for money, paid by parties in New York,' to be transferred to parties in Ireland, in sums running from £1 to £24, the whole amounting to £1,566 : 18s., and the average, consequently, being £3 : 15:9. An immense number of orders have passed through the other Liverpool banks, and through the American merchants of that port." The state of Europe is decidedly a state of crisis. The war is begun in the cabinets of the dipfomates, but will not end there. In Portugal, parties are at that dead lock — the dagger at each other's throat — which Puff so str kingly described in the Critic. But no abjuration "in the Queen's name to drop their swords and daggers" would avail. The Queen's name is not a tower of strength in Portugal. The Spanish marriage works most unprosperously to the parties most imn ediately concerned. The Queen appears to loathe her liusband, and will struggle for a divorce. Worse, she has cast eyes of affection — so ministers believe — on General Serrano. The ministry tried to remove the General, but he replied that his duties as a senator would prevent his going to Navarn*. The ministry insisted. He appealed to the senate. Safe under the protection of her Majesty's name, he still declines to leave the capital. The ministry proceed, and have obtained leave of the Cortes tv try him for disobedience of orders. This is fast becoming a national question. Nearly all the parties to the intrigue by which the Queen finds herself tne bride of her cousin have quitted Spain. She takes pains to exhibit her contempt of her lord, and the humblest village lass is happier than Isabella. The complexities of this marriage question in France, and the consequent coldness with England, have given great importance to a step taken by the Emperor of Russia, the purchase of French rentes to the amount of fifty millions of francs. This may be a mere convenience, an advance for the easier arrangement of the exportation of corn from Russia ; or it may be, as the general belief is, t political measure, having reference to the relations between France and England in Spain, the poisoned rhalice commended to the lips of Louis Phillippe by his own band. Scarcity ol food, and consequent riots to prevent exportation, still prevail in many parts of France, as well as in Belgium and Switzerland ; but there is, generally speaking, an increased provision. Paris, it is observed,, has food for eighty days, »nd considerable importations are expected.

Pope Pius the Ninth has received anana- - bassador from the Sublime Porte, «nd welcomed him most graciously, and the Mahom- - medan Padisha has sworn friendship with the r supreme pontiff. The Pope proceeds as wisely r and powerfully, as gradually, with his amee liorations. The landlords of Italy have, ate tracted his notice by their rapacity, opprefs sion, and selfishness. The Pope has made short c work with them, assuring them of the protecb tion and the benefits to be conferred by a well I organized society upon its members — provided s that they perform their part of the contract—- - the conversation of all their rights, upon the i simple terms of the performance of their dv- . ties. There is an evident effort on the part ) of the Government of England to bring about ; an understanding with the Pope, and to ap- ■ point an ambassador or openly accredited i minister to Rome ; but EnglUh prejudices • require more effort to overcome them than those of the Turks. The Times has very ably advo- ! rated the sending an ambassador, and opening : diplomatic relations with the most extraor- ; dinary man of Europe. i The subject of Cracow has been discussed at great length, and with much interest, in two distinct sittings, since that in which Mt. ' Hume promulgated his resolutions. He had no supporters in' his view of the matter, that Russo-Dutch loan should be withheld. Lord G. Bentmck and M r. D' Israeli even contended that there had been no breach of treaty oh the part of the three powers in Cracow. Finally, the motion was withdrawn. It was a fair theme to speak to ; and apparently Mr. Hun.c was satisfied with the probable effect of those speeches on the public mind. The Factory hill may be considered safe as regards the Commons, and would have been rendered perfectly so last night but for the Fast, which interrupted the proceedings. Tho debate of the preceding Wednesday was chiefly remarkable for the speech of Lord John Russell, who supported thVeleven hours. A proposal for a compromise came from the Glasgow manufacturers, who suggested a species of watch, or relay, succeeding waich ; but the proposal came too late, and the division of the committee was for a ten hours' bill. The great experiment will probably be tried. The ministerial plan for rendering enlistment attractive, and elevating the soldier's position by limiting his period of service, was Unfavourably received by the generality of the military members of the House. For the details off this proposal we refer to our report^ where also will be found some Parliamentary * matters of special interest to India. The news from America exhibits the United Stales as aquiring more territory in Mexico, Chihuahua having fallen, and other successes having occurred. In the Senate at Washington, a more dangerous war has been waged. President Polk had sent down a message to Congress, asking for a grant to provide Field-officers Under the Ten Regiments Bill, and to make other arrangements for pursuing the war in Mexico. With regard to annexation of the territory conquered, and to be conquered, it was found that what is called the Wilmot-proviso, which forbids the institution of slavery in any State that seeks to join the Federal Republic, was one of the clauses. This repudiation aroused Mr. Calhoun, who thought it time that the southern States should take their own position. He moved : — "Tlut any law which would de- . prive the citizens of any State from emigrating with their property into any territory of the | United States, would be in derogation of this perfect equality, and in violation of the constitution, and jtend to subvert the Union." Mr. Calhoun found a fierce and unexpected antagonist in M r. Bencon, who called the resolution a firebrand thrown into the Senate. The affair was still in litigation. * A writer in the National lntelligencer^ (American paper), whose intelligence and candour are vouched for by the editors of that paper, states that he has " heard it said that of the 24,000 troops which we have had for the last eight months on the Rio Grande, 8,000 have died, or been disabled by disease and wounds, and have been sent home ! Perseverance. — At a late public dinner, Mr. Stephenson the engineer, said, — " I have worked my way, but I have worked as hard as any man in the world, and I have overcome obstacles which it falls to the lot of but few men to encounter. I have known the day, when my son was a child, that after my daily labour was at an end, I have gone home to my single room and cleaned clocks and watches, in order that I might be enabled to put my child to school. I ha.l felt too acutely myself the loss of an education not to be fully sensible of how much advantage one would be to him. I may say, too, perhaps, without being deemed egotistical, that I have mixed with a greater variety of society thau, perhaps, any man living. 1 have dined in mines, for ' 1 was once a raintr ; and I Lave dined with Kings and Queens, and with all grades of the nobility ; aud have seen enough to > inspjiiyjjmt with *he hope that my exertions have not 6een without their beneficial results, — that my labour has not been in vain."