ENGLISH NEWS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume v, Issue 421, 15 August 1849, Page 2

ENGLISH NEWS.

The Premier. — We have learnt, as we think, from the best authority, because in fact we have always found it to be so, that the condition of the Whig ministry has now become exceedingly critical, and that it is now almost a matter of certainty that Lord J. Russell will give in his own voluntary resignation within a very few v/eeks from the present time. It is the concurrent opinion of his medical friends, and has been so declared to him, that his strength and health are unequal to sustain much longer the burden of his office' ; and if we may express ourselves in the courtly language employed in these higher spheres, that his lordship must be prepared to make his choice, wbethet it will not be preferable to live for his country, instead of to die for it. At all events, we believe the fact which the report is intended to convey.- Bell's Messenger, April 16.

Mr. Macaulay. — Mr. Macaulay announced last week, on the occasion of his being presented with the freedom of Glasgow, that he has withdrawn from political , life. — Illustrated London News, March 31.

Death of Sir Andrew Agnew, Bart. — The North British Mail, of Saturday, announces the death of Sir Andrew Agnew, which occurred at bis residence, Rutland-, square, Edinburgh, on Thursday. — Liverpool Albion, April 16.

Destrocton of the Olympic Theatre, London. — One of the most rapidly destructive conflagrations that has occurred in London since the burning of Astley's Theatre, about ten years since, broke out on the 29th March, and has resulted in the total demolition of the Royal Olympic Theatre, and the partial destruction of upwards of a dozen other buildings.

Captain Maconocijie. — This distinguished practical philantropist has accepted the Governorship of the new gaol a.t Birmingham. •' ,

Death of Field-Marshal Sir 6. Nugent. — On the 11th instant, Field-Marshal General Sir George Nugent, Bart., X.C.8., expired at his residence, Little. Mtrlow, tt the advanced age of ninety-two. ~ He waitW

oldest general officer in the army. He served throughout the first American war, baying gone out when a lieutenant, and was employed in the expedition up the Hudson's River, for the relief of General Burgoyne's army ; was present at the capture of Forts Montgomery and Clinton, by assault, and performed varioas other services in Holland, in Ireland, in India, and in the West Indies.

.Mortality in Glasgow from Cholera. — Dr. Strang, the respected city chamberlain, has prepaied, from returns obtained from the wardens of the several cemeteries within the -bills of mortality, a tabular view of the progress and results of the cholera in this city. We have been all along aware that the ravages of that terrible disease had been much more fatal, during its prevalence here, than was generally undet stood, but the real state of the case exceeds by several hundreds the highest estimate of the mortality which we ,have hitherto heard. The total number of deaths from cholera in Glasgow, is 3777 ! To-day we can only find- room for the subjoined summary of Dr. Strang's statement: — " From the foregoing tables, and the last year's mortality bill, it appears — " Ist, That from the 14lh November 1848, Co 31st December, the burials from cholera •mounted to 1420, and from other diseases 1436. **2dly, That during the month of January there were no fewer than 3100 burials within the varions cemetries of Glasgow, of which there were 1780 from cholera, and 1320 from other diseases, and when we compare these with the burials of January, 1848, which j amounted to 1674, we find, in spite of the existence of the then prevailing typhus or famine fever, that the burials in January, 1849, were 1426 more than in January 1848. It is, perhaps, almost unnecessary to add, that no previous month in the whole history of Glasgow ever exhibited so high a figure of morality as January, 1849 ; for assuming the rate to have continued throughout the whole year, it would have shown an annual mortality for Glasgow of about 36,900, and -which 10 the estimated population would have been one out of every seven ! "3rdly. From the foregoing tables it appears, that from the first outbreaking of the epidemic in Glasgow, on the 14th day of November, till the 22nd of March, when it may be said to have almost ceased, there have been buried from cholera 3777, or about 1.06 per cent, of 'he whole estimated population ; and that during the months of January and February, when the disease was at its acme, the gross burials showed a daily average of 50.8."

Ireland. — From Ireland, to which England has lately had more leisure to turn attention, we have accounts of the aggravation of all the ordinary evils of that country. Destitution, even to starvation, is the condition of whole districts of the kingdom. Landlords and occupiers are involved in one common ruin. From Cavan we have accounts of evictions of the wretched peasantry, accompanied by something more than the ordinary horrors. From Limerick, Cork, and other counties, we hear of a renewed outbreak of the cholera ; and from every side prayers to England for immediate relief. A meeting in the county of Cork has been convened to petition for immediate aid, Lord Bernard presiding ; and the Earl of Bandon, some of whose propeity is amongst the most prosperous and best managed in all Ireland, has found it necessary voluntarily to reduce his rents by 10s. and 14s. per acre. A melancholy account is given of the state of general bankruptcy in the Ennis Union, the largest in the county of Clare. Out of 77,000 inhabitants 27,000 are receiving relief ; the expenditure is £960 a week ; the receipts -f,92. At the time, not many days since, when the account was made up, the treasurer, of the Union had a balance in his hands of £22 towards the provision for those 27,000 persons : while the debt Jue by the Union amounted to upwards of £10,000. It is not surprising that under such circumstances Sir Robert Peel's plan, although it could have no immediate effect, should be caught at by the landlords of Ireland, especially as a means of extricating them from their difficulties.—Jtlas, April 14.

The Revenue. — The returns of the quarter's revenue, made up on Thursday night, fully bear out our anticipations of last week. The increase in the customs on the year ending sth April, 1849, over the year ending sth April, 1848, is more than a million, as we expected. The increase in the excise is nearly half as much, but is more than counterbalanced, as we said it would be, by the falling off in the stamps. The total increase on the year is no less than £867,000, and thus almost exactly tallies with the estimate of Lord John Russell in its aggregate amount, as well as in its several items. The decrease on the quarter, as compared with the corresponding quarter of 1848, is so small as not to excite any gloomy feeling to counterbalance the more cheering prospects, exhibited more especially in th# incross of the customs :dutj>es, The

least favourable items in the account is the falling off, though not very considerable, in the Property Tax, Stamps, and Post Office returns. — Observer, April 9.

The Indian Commander-in-Chief. — Sir Charles Napier reached Marseilles yesterday week. He left on the following day at ten o'clock by her Majesty's steamer Medusa, Comraauder Bathurst, for Leghorn, where the Ardent was in waiting to convey him to Alexandria. The India outward mail will wait for Sir Charles in Egypt. — Atlas, April 7.

Commission ERSHip of the lonian Isles. — Mr. Ward, the Secretary of the Admiralty, will not eater upon bis new appointment until after the navy estimates have heen passed. The present Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands, Lord Seaton, receives a salary of £5000 per annum, besides £1200 a year as Lieut.-Colonel of the 15th Dragoons. We hear that Mr. Ward has accepted the office with the reduction from its present emoluments of £1000. The future Lord High Commissioner of the lonian Islands, therefore, will receive no more than £4000 a-year. It is stated that Sir F. Baring having declined a peerage will undertake the Admiralty responsibility in the Lower House, and that Mr. F. Tuffnell, M.P., removes from the Treasury to succeed Mr. Ward as Secretary to the Admiralty. This transfer will not create any necessity of vacating his seat for Devonport. — Alias, April 7.

Death of the* Roman Catholic Primate. — Dr. Crolly, Roman Catholic Primate of Ardagb, died at Droglieda on Friday last, of cholera, after nine hours' suffering. — Bell's Messengir, April 7.

The Murders at Stanfield Hall. — Trial and Conviction or Rush. — The trial of James Blomfield Rush, charged with the murder of Mr. Jenny, sen,, at Stanfield Hall, on the 28th November, commenced on the 29th March, at the Norfolk Assizes, before Mr. Baron Rolfe. A great number of strangers were present to hear the trial, including the Marquis of Douro, the Earl of Leicester, and several other peers. The trial lasted six days, Mr. Sergeant Byles, Mr. Pendergast, and Mr. Evans, conducting the prosecution. The prisoner conducted his own defence, and cross-examined the witnesses severely, and at great length, particularly Emily Sandford, the unfortunate young woman who was living with Rush at the time of the murder. A great number of witnesses were called, and of the five persons who saw the murderer at the hall at the time of his firing the shots, four identified Rush as the assassin, although disguised, and one said she was too much alarmed to be able to say whether it was any person she knew ; one of these witnesses, Eliza Chestney, the servant girl whom the assassin wounded with his fourth shot, was so ill that she was brought into court on a litter, when she identified Rush as the assassin. Emily Sandford gave nearly the same evidence as on her second examination before the magistrates, as to the time when Rush was out on the evening of the murder, with the occurrences and his agitated manner after his return, and his repeated charges to her to say he bad only been out ten minutes. On the fifth day the prisoner commenced his defence, which was not completed until noon on the sixth day, having occupied fifteen hours in the delivery. Rush stated that he was out on his farm that evening in consequence of a man named Joe and a lawyer coming to him about a dispute they had with Mr. Jenny, against whom they used threats ; these persons he said went to Stanfield Hall that evening, and to his astonishment he soon after heard three successive reports of a gun or pistol from the direction of the ball, and shortly after the hall bell rang ; of neither of these persons, however, did he know the full names or where they resided ; he was himself entirely innocent of the crime, as would one day be made known. After he had concluded his defence Rush called a few witnesses, but they deposed to nothing material. Mr. Baron Rolfe summed up the evidence at considerable length ; there could be no doubt that the murder was committed by the man who was seen disguised at the hall, and the only question for the jury was whether or not the evidence had satisfied them that Rush was that man. The jury, after an absence of a few minutes, returned a verdict of guilty, and Rush was sentenced to death. The time fixed for the execution was Saturday, the 21st April. — Abridged from the English Papers.

The Bristol Murder. — At the Gloucester assizes, on Tuesday, Ann Thomas was tried for the murder of her mistress, Miss Jefferies, at Bristol, by beating her on the head with a stone. The prisoner is a good looking young woman, with nothing in her face to indicate the criminal tendencies which she had exhibited. At the commencement, of the trial the prisoner was accommodated with a sett by order of his Lordship, and remained seated throughout the trial, exhibiting no appearance whatever of emotion, except during tbe.jdfjirery of Sergeant Allens speech in her

defence, when she wept incessantly. Sergeant Allen did not deny that the death of the deceased had been caused by the act of the prisoner, but urged the supposition that it was done in the heat of passion, in consequence of provocation, and therefore that the crime amounted to manslaughter only.' The jury found the prisoner guilty of murder, accompanied with a recommendation to mercy on the ground of her youth. She evinced no emotion when the verdict was pronounced, but when his Lordship put on the black cap she retreated «nd put her hands before her face, and said, " Ob, I cannot stand that ! fl His Lordship, in passing sentence of death, observed, that though she had been recommended to mercy, yet he saw no reason for concurring in that recommendation. When the sentence was pronounced, and the gaoler came to remove her, she implored him to beg his Lordship to spare her life, and said she would not go till he had done so, and before she could be removed a second gaoler was obliged to assist in taking her away. After her removal and the lapse of a few minutes, his Lordship told the jury that he would forward their recommendation for mercy to the proper quarter. — Liverpool Albion, April 9. — The execution of the girl, Sarah Harriett Thomas, for the murder of her mistress at Bristol, is fixed for Friday next. — Observer, . April 16.

Symptoms of Conservative Re-union. —Mr. Disraeli's Courtesies to Sir Robert Peel. — We do. not desire to disturb the tranquil bliss of the liberated victims of a nation's confidence by passing any strictures on their last week's work, but we may notice a trifling incident or two significant of something interesting to them and to us. We have before noticed more than one indication of the rapprochement of the Conservative party to their old general, and during the last few days we have marked other symptoms of a forgetfulness of mutual wrongs, auJ of an inclination to come to mutual understandings. It was curious to see Mr. Disraeli the other night, when he was criticising the new "grand and comprehensive scheme" for Irish regeneration, dimly shadowed forth by Sir Robert Peel, how tenderly he treated the right hon. baronet — how deferentially he " presumed to differ" in opinion from one who " deservedly" had such an influence in the country. It was curious, likewise, to see Sir Robert Peel, while his scheme was undergoing the abovementioned criticism, how attentively and respectfully he listened to the hon. member for Buckingham — how graciously he nodded assent to many of the propositions laid down — how flatteringly he cried " Hear, hear," to such sentiments as he could approve. Ah, there was a vast change in the meaning of the glances and tones exchanged between these gentlemen from what we can remember ! The insulting contempt, the irreconcileable hatred, the bitter personal dislike that used to characterize the rencontres of these masters of rhetoric were no longer visible ; in their stead appeared the most charitable signs of repentance for bygone intemperances, and of hopes of future reconciliation. When the Protectionist leader sat down too, Sir Robert Peel, instead of removing from the disagreeable proximity of one who had heaped upon his head every abusive epithet in the vocabulary of our parliamentary language, kept his seat within one of Mr. Disraeli — a thing we don't remember to have seen since the time of the memorable rupture in 1846, But the Irish debate af- ' forded another token of the advance of reconciliation between Sir R. Peel and the country party. The Marquis of Granby got so far as to style the late " base betrayer of the gentlemen of England" his " right hon. friend" — a style he continued during the whole of his speech, and which is -certainly rather strong proof that the obstacles to a hearty sbtke hands between the crew are not now very formidable. In fact, the Conservatives, or Protectionists, or whatever they be, cannot do without a head, and Sir R. Peel is the only one left for them to choose. Mr. Disraeli is well enough for a brilliant oration, but he would sacrifice all the parties that ever were formed to a vain-glorious display. ' Mr. Augustus Stafford has all the vanity of Disraeli, without an iota of his genius. By the way, this aspirant to the leadership was left on Tuesday night, or rather Wednesday morning,to watch the winding up of the order of the day, — and a sad mess he made of it. He took Mr. Disraeli's motto, " that the business of the Opposition is to oppose" au pied de la lettre % and actually opposed everything, right or wrong. The bringing in of bills, which, the courtesy of the House invariably permits, he objected to, one after the other, exposing himself and his party to the ignominious punishment of appearing in a minority of fifteen ! ** Oh, wise young m»n !*— oh, excellent judge !" But to come back to our subject, the fierce hostility of the Protectionist party to Sir R. Peel is fast subsiding, and we are much mistaken if he be not found again, ere long, lead- i ing them — Heaven] knows vthei&.*-rAtlas, April 7t

Mr. Dillon, the political fugitire, has been called to the American bar by a special order. Mrs. Mitchell and her five children are going to the Cape of Good Hope, to live near her husband. — The Illustrated London Newt.

Jamaica. — The West India mail steamer, Clyde, armed at. Southampton yesternight week, with the West India and Pacific mails. The Clyde was detained at Jamaica three days. She brought twenty-five passengers, 826,000 dols. specie on freight, and a full cargo. The intelligence from Jamaica is important. We learn a most important measure of reform was being agitated. The city of Kingston has the initiative in advocating the propriety of appl}ing to her Majesty to grant the island a constitution similar to that of Canada and the other North American provinces. A very large and influential meeting had been held on the subject. The legislature of the island had been prorogued to the 25th March. — Liverpool Albion, April 16

Frightful Accident at Sierra Leone. — A most frightful accident occurred ashore at Sierra Leone, on the 20th February, which caused the death of fourteen soldiers of the West India Regiment serving in that colony. The party were employed in clearing out the contents of a number of rockets condemned as unserviceable, when the missiles in the hands., of one of the men by some means became ignited, and went off, communicating the explosion to the heap of powder, and other detonating compositions in heaps strewed about the place, when a most terrific result ensued. The building in which the operations were going on was blown into the air, and with it the bodies of all employed in it, whose mangled remains presented an appearance far too horrible to describe. Fourteen out of the party died almost immediately ; only one survived to relate the manner of the occurrence.