LATEST ENGLISH NEWS. [From the Maitland Mercury.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 754, 23 October 1852, Page 3

LATEST ENGLISH NEWS. [From the Maitland Mercury .]

lly the immigrant ship Marco Polo, from Liverpool July 4, English news to the 3rd July has been received. From the Melbourne and Sydney papers we compile the following summary of the news brought by that vessel : — Parliament was prorogued by the Queen in person on. the Ist of July. The following is a copy of the royal speech :— My Lords and Gentlemen, — I- am induced *by 'considerations of public policy to release you at an earlier period than usual from your Legislative duties. The zeal and diligence, however, with which you have applied yourselves to your Parliamentary labors have" enabled me, in this comparatively short session^ to give my assent to many measures of high importance, and, I trust, of great and permanent advantage. I receive from all foreign powers assurances that they are animated by the most friendly disposition towards this country ; and I entertain a confident hope that the amicable relations happily subsisting between the principal European states may be so firmly established as,

under Divine Providence, to secure to the world a long continuance of the blessings of peace. vTo this "great end my attention will he unremittingly directed. I rejoice that the final settlement of the affairs of Holstein and Schleswig, by the general concurrence- of the powers chiefly interested, has removed one cause of recent difference and of future anxiety. The amicable termination of the discusssions which have taken place between the Sublime Porte and the Pasha of Egypt affords a guarantee for the tranquillity of the East, and encouragement to the extension of commercial enterprise. The refusal, on the part of the King of Ava, of redress, justly demanded for insults, and injuries offered to my subjects at Rangoon, has necessarily led to an interruption of friendly relations with that sovereign. The promptitude and vigour with which the Governor-General of India has taken the measures thus rendered unavoidable, have merited my entire approbation ; and I am confident that yoa will participate in the satisfaction with which I have observed the conduct of all the naval and military forces, European and Indian, by whose valour and discipline the important captures of Rangoon and Martaban have been accomplished, and in the hope which I entertain that these signal successes may lead to ran early" and honourable peace. Treaties have been concluded by my naval commanders with the King of Dahomey, and all the African chiefs whose rule extends along the Bight of Benin, for the total abolition of the slave trade, which is at present wholly suppressed upon that coast. . I have had great satisfaction in giving my assent to the measures which you have wisely adopted for the better organization of the militia — a constitutional force, which, being limited to purposes of internal defence, can afford no just ground of jealousy to neighbouring powers, but which, in the event of any sudden and unforeseen disturbance of my foreign relations, would at all tinjes contribute eventually to the protection and security of my dominions. Gentlemen of the House of Commons— - I thank you for the liberal provision which you have made for the exigencies of the public service. The expenditure which you have authorised shall be applied wirh a due regard to. economy and efficiency. The recent discoveries of extensive gold fields have produced in the Australian colonies a temporary disturbance of society, requiring prompt attention. I have taken such steps as appeared to me most urgently necessary for the mitigation of this serious evil. I shall continue anxiously to watch the important results which must follow from these discoveries. I have willingly concurred with, you injan act which by rendering available to the service of those colonies, the portion arising within them of the hereditary revenue placed at the disposal of Parliament on my accession to the throne, may enable them to meet their necessarily increased expenditure. - My Lords and Gentlemen — ' _ I have gladly assented to the important bills which you have passed, for effecting reforms long and anxiously desired, in the practice and proceeding of the superior courts of law and equity, and generally for improving the administration of justice. Every measure which simplifies the forms, and diminishes the delay and expenses of legal proceedings, without introducing uncertainty of decisions, impairing the authority of the courts, or lowering the high standard of the judicial bench, is a valuable boon conferred upon the community at large. I hope that the measures which you have adopted for promoting the extramural interment of the dead, and of improving the supply of water, may be found effectual for the remedy of evils, the existence of which has long been a reproach to this great metropolis, and may conduce to the health and comfort of its inhabitants. The extension of popular rights and legislative powers to- my subjects resident in the colonies is always to me an object of deep interest} and I trust that their representative native institutions, which in concert with you, I have sanctioned for New Zealand, may promote the welfare and content of that distant but most interesting colony, and confirm their loyalty and attachment to my crown. It is my intention, without delay, to dissolve this present Parliament ; and it is my earnest prayer, that, in the exercise of the functions which according to our free constitution, will devolve upon the several constituencies, they may be directed by an all- wise Providence to the selection of representatives whose wisdom and patriotism may aid me in my increasing endeavour' to sustain the honor and dignity of my crown, to uphold the Protestant institutiona. of the country, and the civil and religious liberty which is their natural result, to extend and inw prove the national education,*to develope and encourage industry and science, and to elevate" the moral and social condition, and thereby promote the welfare and happiness of my people.

The Liverpool Journal thus reviews the departed session : — " The session has been a session without a hero. Every man has recedecj ; not one has advanced-; there is no new man — unless it be Mr. Vincent Scully, who, though destined to be one of the first men in the House of Commons, has at present so much brogue and so little tact, that it is a fashion to laugh at him. Lord John Russell has lost caste ; first; for selling the pass, and then for wanting the pluck to win.it back. The old Whigs would be glad "to see him in the House of Lords. The Radicals would be glad to see him out of the way: although, as evidenced in the city of London. election, they haven't the honesty to say so. Sir James Graham had made no way, for he has not yet discovered a policy for the future. Mr. Gladstone has narrowed himself , to church subjects. Mr. Cobden has been perfectly silent. Mr. Bright has only been noisy. Mr. Hume has been versatile in varying the irons in the fire. Lord Derby was dragging Parliament and- country back ; and no competitor would disp^y more than vis inertia. As to the

! " Brigade" representing Ireland, they hav.e'iot , | made a single step forward either directly in undoing the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill, or indirectly (and the indirect was to be their great policy) in thwarting either Lqrd John or Lord Dei by. They have spent the session in the smoking-room : an odd shrine for a party, par excellence the pious one. Ministers have kept office and their ground. Mr. Disraeli has proved in, what he proved out — that he is the cunningest of mankind, Mr, "Walpole has shewn himself rather more incapable than was expected — chiefly because he wouldn't hold his tongue, and let Disraeli do the public thinking for him. Sir J. Pakington has excelled expectation ; for not only has he been keen and clever in his office, but he has developed an aptitude for debate on certain set subjects. Lord Derby has talked more than is constitutional for a premier in the Lords to talk ; and that is all. The ideas he borrowed from Disraeli : all the blunders are his ' own : — and the blunders are the insinuations of Tory tendencies. Mr. Disraeli has only one policy — to keep office by any means : — to ' be a Tory if he finds the house has a majority that way, and that the people will endure it : but to be a Liberal, if necessary, and to suit his measures and his language to a Liberal majority. That will be the policy attempted when the new Parliament meets; whatever the Parliament, the policy will be made to suit. But luckily Lord Derby is rather a blundering fellow ; and Mr. Disraeli I will find himself beaten by his own chief."

The Prorogation ov Parliament. — The Parliament which was prorogued on the Ist of July, assembled on the 18th Nov., 1847. The last Parliament, which was dissolved on the 23rd of July, 1847, was in existence five years, 11 months and four days, the longest period since the 7th Geo. IV. In a recently issued document by the House of Lords, it is stated " that the average duration of a Parliament may be estimated at four years." According to the new act Parliament may be appointed to meet 35 days after the proclamation for the assembling of the same. The London Gazette contains the royal proclamation dissolving Parliament, and., ordering the issuing of writs, which are to be returnable on Friday, the 20th|August. Another proclamation commands the peers of Scotland to meet at Holyrood on Thursday, the 15th day of July, to nominate 16 peers for the new Parliament. In the House of Lords, on the 25th of June, the Duke of Argyll presented a petition from the Legislative Council of New South Wales, for the redress of grievances with respect to the constitution of that colony. Earl Grey thought that the complaints of the colonists were for the most part unfounded, and entered into some explanation on the subjects referred to in the petition. Lord Wodehouse thought there were cases in which the colonies should have more control over the waste lands. The subject then dropped* The Earl of Shaftesbury, on the 26th June, submitted to the House of Lords a bill not for the purpose of having it then discussed, but for the purpose of having it printed thenand circulated, during the recess* throughout the country and the colonies. The object of the bill was to enable parishes and Boards of Guardians to raise funds to meet contributions from Australia for the purpose of juvenile emigration. The bill being merely intended to stir the question, and to excite comment and observation, was necessarily imperfect. The proposition would, he was sure, be most favourably received in the colonies, and, when understood) would, he doubted not, be equally acceptable to all who cared for the welfare of the rising generation, who would be alike benefited by it, both those who emigrated and those who remained. The Earl of Derby did not object to the principle of the bill. His only doubt as to the success of this bill was founded on the confession of the noble Earl himself, who had said that the bill itself was " necessarily imperfect." If so, would it be wise to circulate it during the recess, and to allow the prejudices which might arise both in this country and in the colonies from its errors to militate against it during that interval ? After some further conversation, the Earl of Shaftesbury said that, under all the circumstances, it would perhaps be better to withdraw the bill for the present. The bill was then withdrawn. The New Zealand Government Bill, and the Militia Bill, had passed the House of Lords.

The Bishop op Sydney. — House of Commons, Friday, June 25. — In reply to Sir R. H. Inglis, Sir J. Pakington said it was the intention of Government to answer the remonstrance of the Lord Bishop of Sydney with respect to the precedence of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Australian colony. The Ministerial White-Bait Dinner.— On Wednesday her Majesty's ministers had their usual white-bait dinner, at the Crown and Sceptre, Greenwich. The Attorney- General, Sir F. Thesiger, presided. *The Morning Chronicle having predicted that the white-bait dinner would be a melancholy " affair, we have the satisfaction of informing our contemporary that, under the able presidency of Sir F. Thesiger, the utmost conviviality prevailed, and, to use the words of a talented member of the administration, who was present at the dinner, a less apparently moribund festival had never taken place. —^Morning Herald, July 1. "' The Duke of Wellington gave his annual banquet to commemorate the victory of Waterloo, to the surviving heroes in that conflict, at Apsley HouSe. Prince Albert honoured the Duke with his company, and the invitation included about 60 officers. All the enthusiastic predictions of the high position which Australia would speedily obtain in the commercial and social discussions of England, when she appeared in London and Liverpool with her golden argosies to commend her many other gifts to the mother country, seem now about to be abundantly fulfilled. Within the 18 days elapsing since our last previous intelligence, several fresh steam-ships, including some of the most magnificent vessels in that division of the mercantile marine of England, were laid on for the Great Golden Land. Among them, we have the happiness to observe the announcement of a new line by the Cunard Company, to connect their American lines with Australia by way of Panama. It does not appear certain that these boats will at first come

round Cape Horn. They would ' more probably feel their way against the other steamers between Chagres or Navy Bay and New York. It is stated that these boats were nearly ready for running. The A. R. M. S. N. Cos. steamship Sydney was advertised to leave Plymouth positively on the 3rd August. The steamship Cleopatra was announced to leave on the sth ; the P. and O. Company's steamer Formosa on the 7th ; the steamship Sarah Sands— well known in the American trade — from Liverpool on the 10th, and the Great Britain from the same port, on the 21st — all for Sydney and Melbourne.

New Zealand Bill. — The House of Commons on the 9th June proceeded with the remaining clauses of the New Zealand Bill, and on the 74th clause, which sanctions the new arrangement with the new Zealand Company, guaranteeing them one-fourth of the price of the land sales, Sir W. Molesworth moved an amendment, limiting the claims of the company to the strict legal rights they were entitled to under the act of 1847. The Col. Sec, Sir J. Pakington could not undertake to act judicially between the company and those who accused them ; all he had to do was to look to the equitable rights they had under the act of 1847. The government proposition was ultimately carried, as was another amendment limiting the payment to one- tenth instead of one- fourth. Mr. Gladstone moved to limit the payment to the company to a maximum of ss. per acre, but the motion was lost on a division.