LATEST ENGLISH NEWS. [From the Maitland Mercury.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 755, 27 October 1852, Page 3

LATEST ENGLISH NEWS. [From the Maitland Mercury.]

Steam vbrsus Paddle Wheels. — The race between the paddle-box steamer Humboldt, and the screw steamer Great Britain across the Atlantic, was a most interesting and important one. They both started from New York at the same time, and arrived in England at the same time, on Wednesday, ojie -at Liverpool ! and the other at Cowes. The distance between Cowes and New York is greater than between New York and Liverpool, and therefore the Humboldt must be considered to have had the advantage. The Humboldt is a remarkable fine steamer, and her voyage just completed was the quickest ever known between Cowes and New York. It is also worth noticing that the Peninsular and Oriental Company's Screw steamer Formosa has just made the quickest passage ever known between the Clyde and Southampton, she having run the distance in 50 hours. The ministry seem alarmed at the too prompt result of their appeal to the religious and national prejudices of the people, for they have given orders to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to prohibit all orange processions on the 12th July ; and the Grand Orange Lodge, making a virtue of necessity, have forbidden even the display of an orange ribbon on that day. The Recent Proclamation. — Dr. Newman has addressed a letter to Mr. Secretary Walpole, inquiring whether the recent proclamation is directed against the practice of Roman Catholics — ecclesiastical and lay, who have ordinarily appeared in the streets of Birmingham and in the neighbourhood in cassocks and cloaks. Mr. W. H. Joliffe, on behalf of the Home Secretary, replies :—": — " In answer thereto I am to inform "you, that her Majesty* s proclamation is directed against all violations of the 26th section of the statute 10th Geo. IV. c. 7, and that if you feel any difficulty in the construction of that enactment, your proper course will be to consult your legal adviser. The Secretary of State would not be justified in pronouncing an opinion on the question submitted to him ; for if any doubt exists on the points, the decision of it must rest with the courts of law and not with the Govenment." A new trial in'the case of Bellamy v. Majoribanks occupied the Chief B&ron and a special Middlesex jury two days last week, and .resulted in a verdict for Coutts & Co., thus establishing their irresponsibility in paying a cheque which had been doubly crossed, without making inquiry.

Health of Mr. Roebuck, M.P. — The following extract from a letter' by Mr. Roebuck . completely sets at rest all doubts respecting his present state of health :—": — " I now deem myself completely recovered, and ready for any reasonable amount of work. I see the Daily JNeios intimates a doubt of my being able to be present at the election. There is no reason for any such doubt. My articulation is now right I again, and my weakness is greatly diminished." The Consolidated Annuities. — The Dublin Evening Mail contains the following from its London correspondent : — " The Consolidated Annuities Committee of the Lords have recommended that the whole of the money wasted upon useless roads by the Board of Works shall be remitted. This sum, with the interest now charged on it, will amount to three millions ; but it has been proved before the committee that that large amount was squandered, not merely uselessly, but with positive and very considerable injury to the country ; and therefore has the recommendation to remit it been made, and, as I have good reason to believe, been acceded to by the Government." The amount of loss sustained by Messrs. Clowes has been considerably over-estimated. A portion of the loss is covered by the floating policies of booksellers and religious societies ; so that £4000 or £5000 will probably be the extent of Messrs. Clowes' loss. Storm in Lancashire. — At Eccles, there was a dreadful storm of thunder, lightning, and hail, which did much damage. , The roof of the factory of Mr. Ainsworth", which was chiefly of glass, was completely destroyed. The hailstones were of immense size. The storm was also severely felt in the neighbourhood of Bolton and Bury. Chester, too, and the neighbourhood, it appears, was visited on the same day by one of the most terrific thunderstorms that has happened for some years* A letter from Boulogne states that the celebrated Mrs. Mary Anne Clarke, who more than forty years ago caused so much sensation in England in connection with the charges brought before the House of Commons against the late Duke of York, died in that town on the 29th June, aged 74.

Attempt to Poison. — A servant of the French Ambassador, M. de Rayneval, at Rome, attempted to poison his master and his family because he had not been chosen to accompany the ambassador in his recent trip to Paris* It appears that on a day fixed for the departure of the Countess Rayneval for the baths of Aix, in Savoy, when the cafe au lait was brought to ta* ble for breakfast, the milk was found to have a disagreeable taste and peculiar appearance, so much as to induce suspicion in the mind of his Excellency, who ordered some of it to be given to a cat. The cat soon after died, and the few persons who had tasted of the milk were seized with "colic. The milk was analysed, and found to contain arsenic. The servant was immediately placed in confinement.

The case of the " Queen" v. Newman " wai opened on Monday, in the Court of Queen's Bench, before Lord Campbell and a special jury* The Attorney-General* the Solicitor-General, and Mr. Ellis, appeared in support of the prose* cution ; and Sir A. E. Cockburn,' Mr. Sergeant Wilkins, Mr. Bramwell, Q.C., Mr. Addison, and Mr. Baddeley, for the defendant. This was a criminal information, filed by Dr. Giacinto Achilli against the Rev. Dr« Newman, for a libel contained in a pamphlet published in October last year, entitled ■• Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England," addressed to the Brothers of the Oratory, by John Henry Newman, D.D., priest of the congregation of St. NerL The pamphlet in question was represented to be the fifth lecture on the "Logical inconsistency of the Protestant View." The libel charged Dr. Achilli in substance with being a profligate, an unbeliever, and a hypocrite. The defendant pleaded first, not guilty, upon which issue was joined ; secondly, he pleaded certain allegations of fact, and said that the libel was true in substance, and that its publication was for the public benefit. To this the prosecutor replied, that the defendant had published it in his wrong, and with' out the alleged cause. Upon this plea issue was also joined. The Attorney-General, in opening the case, alluded to the circumstances under which Dr. Achilli appeared in this country, observing that he was a person of importance to the church which he had left ; he was a formidable adversary ; and the members of that church seemed to have considered it was their duly to endeavour to disable his authority, to impeach his veracity, and to destroy his credit ; and no person appeared to have applied himself to the task with more zeal, if not with more ability, than Dr, Newm»n, the defendant in this information. He was aware of the temper of the Euglish people ; he knew that nothing was more likely to interest them than any act of impropriety committed by any one clothed with a sacred character. For that purpose he had raked together all the scandals which the malice and the invention of the enemies of Dr. Achilli could devise, in order to print and publish them. The AttorneyGeneral undertook to produce Dr. Achilli as a witness at the proper time, in order that he might be subjected to the most rigid cross examination. The rule of Court having been read, and the necessary documentary evidence adduced in proof of the libel, the case for the prosecution was closed. Sir A. Cockburn addressed the jury for the defence, and after the examination of several witnesses, the case was adjourned. > The defendant's case was resumed at the sitting of the Court on Tuesday, which was crowded almost to suffocation throughout the day. At half- past eight o'clock in the evening it was brought to a close by the production of an office copy of the judgmeut of the Inquisition, which, for alleged immoralities, deprived Dr. Achilli of all ecclesiastical functions for ever, and sentenced him to be sent to a particular convent for three years. After an admission by the counsel for the prosecution that if the charges were true they were for the public benefit, the Court rose. On Wednesday, Dr. Achilli was examined, and the Court again adjourned. On Thursday the trial was brought to a close by the jury returning a verdict for the Crown, and of course against Dr. Newiuan, who has How been pronounced by a British jury a libeller of Dr. Achilh's "character. The cheering which greeted the verdict from the majority of those in the Court was taken up in Westminster Hall, and for full half-an-bour aftet the jury had been dismissed, those who had been present at the event remained iv excited groups to discuss its significance.

Liverpool Wooi Market, Thtjksday, July 1. — The wool market throughout the month has experienced great firmness,and limited imports of various descriptions,' together with increasing consumption, lias induced holders to askhigher prices ; in some instances the purchasers have bought at the advance, both for immediate use and for arrival. General complaint is manifested in the manufacturing districts at the present value of the raw material, because the advance attainable on yarns and piece goods is not proportionate, and leaves no margin for the consumer. The sales by private treaty have been !in long washed Oporto fleece, and Cott's Peruvian, Buenos Ayres, Russian for arrival, Turkey, East India, &c, at extreme rates. Good white combing Egyptian is much wanted — no stock, Scotch :A good business done in Cheviot ; laid Highland sold freely at a slight advance : a few sales also reported in laid cross. English and Irish : good combing fleeces changed hands at high prices ; nothing particular to report in skin wools. The session of the French Legislative Assembly closed on the 29th of June. Iv his message the Prince President thanked that body for the support given to the new institution, and promised, during the recess, to devote his best attention to the requirements of the country, with a view of devising such measures as should lessen the expenses of the State, without impairing the public service. — The fusion between the Orleanists and Count de Chambcrd is virtually suspended for the present, to the great indignation of the great northern powers, who declare their intention of no longer recognising the claims of the Orleans princes to any consideration*

AccJident at Portsmouth. — A melancholy accident occurred recently in the garrison at Portsmouth. About half-past four, whilst Major-General Simpson, the lieutenant-governor of the artillery corps, was iv the act of inspecting the laboratory, a " carcase" was ignited, when from the presence of detonating powder, or some other improper ingredient baring entered into the composition, it exploded. The fragments of the shell were scattered in every direction, striking down the sergeant (Wilson) of the laboratory, and frtcturing his leg in two places* Nicholson, a gunner, was also struck by another piece of the shell in the groin, inflicting a wound three inches in extent, and shattering some of the fingers of both hands. The bugler of the party was also struck under the thigh, near the knee. Major^General Simpson was struck by some of the pieces of the missile on the breast with considerable violence, but happily doing him no serious harm. Colonel Menzies, K.H, who was standing by the side of the Major-General, was also struck,, and his escape from lasting injury is remarkable. The glasses he wore over his eyes were smashed to pieces by the fragments of shell; but, although the glasses arid frames were forcibly pressed backwards upon the eyes, his | sight escaped injuiy.

An Indian PniNCEss.—rThe ceremony of the baptism of the Princess Gauromms, daughter of his Highness Prince Vere JBajunder, ex-Ra-jah of Coorg, took place lately in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace. The ceremony w.as performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The princess was named by her Majesty, "Victoria." The Princess Gauromma lhas, hy an agreement between the ex-Rajah of Coorg, on the one hand, and the Board of Control and the Board of Directors on the other, been placed, under her Majesty's protection, to be educated in the principles of the Church of England in this country ; and her Majesty has appointed Mrs. Drummond to take charge of her. A bill is in the House of Commons, printed to amend the law relating to navy pay. It proposes to enact, that out of all supplies for naval services, the necessary sums shall first be appropriated for the regular and punctual payment of the pay and wages of the officers and men of the Royal Navy, and that after the Ist of October next, ships on arrival at ports of the United Kingdom shall be paid uudei rules and regulations of the Admiralty.

Th& New Crystal Palace. — Various arrangements have already been made by the directors of the Crystal Palace Company, in conjunction with Sir Joseph Faxton, Messrs. Fcx and Henderson, and Mr. Owen Jones, and the j other gentlemen engaged in the reconstruction of the edifice, and in the formation of the grounds. The total length of the building will be 1853 feet, the extreme width 384. The new palace will undergo several modifications. It will have* -three transepts — two of the same size and height as the original transept, and a central one of 130 feet span, 108, feet higher than the two smaller. The roofing of the transepts, as well as the whole of the nave, will be arched, and the libs will be of wrought iron instead of wood, as employed in the old transept — rthe former material being used, not for the sake of durability only, but with the ■view also of absorbing the whole " thrust " of the arches, and of preventing its being ibroun on the adjacent fiat roofs of the aisles. The glass for the new roofs will be all 21 ounces, instea ] of 16 onnces per square loot. The new site is said to be only a few feet below the crest of the hill, which cannot be less than 300 feet above high water mark ; and as the whole n^ve of the new building is to be arched like the existing transept, and a new centre transept substituted twice .as high as the present, the Crystal Palace will not lose by the change. The whole of the vast building, from its arched roof to the platform on which it stands, will be seen from every eminence near London ; at some points forty miles off it will be a conspicuous object in the distant horizon ; it will be visible from its present site, and will be the first sign of the metropolis that meets the eyes of most foreigners arriving from Germany or France.

A New Bank for Australia. — We find the following prospectus in a recent English paper : — Royal Australian Banking and Gold Importing Company. To be incorporated by Royal Charter, with limited liability. Capital £250,000, in 50,000 shares at £5 each; deposit £1 per share. Governor, John Macgregor, Esq., M.P. Directors : Thomas Aggs, Esq., 1 Bishopsgatestreet Wuhin. William Bevan, Esq., Hyde House, Leominster. George Cooke, Esq., 23, JNorfolk-road, Regents-park. John Macgregor, Esq., M.P., 1 Princes-terrace, Hyde-park. J. D. Hoare, Esq. Montague-street, Portmansquare. George N. Payne, Esq., Westbourne, grove, Bayswater. J. C, Stovin, Esq., Acaciaroad, St. Johns-w ood. Bankers — Messrs. Masterman and Co. ; the Royal British Bank. Solicitors — Messrs. Mnllins and Paddison. Brokers — Messrs. Field, Son, and Wood. Secretary— Percy Drummond, Esq. Offices, 9, Moorgate-street, London. The greatly increasing population, the commerce, the pastoral anJ agricultural riches of New South Wales and Victoria, the great success of the banks already established in Sydney, Melbourne, and Geelong, together with the extraordinary yield of the gold fields of these colonies, justly warrant the establishment of a new Australian Bank, with branches in snch towns as may appear expedient. It has, therefore, been proposed to form a new banking j association, to be entitled the Royal Australian Banking and Gold Importing Company to be incorporated under a Royal Charter. The capital is proposed to be £250,000, in 50,000 shares of £5 each, on which a deposit of £1 each shall be paid, and no further call to be made until the Royal Charter shall have been obtained, and not then except by a resolution agreed to by a majority at a general meeting of shareholders, to be called together for that purpose by three regular advertisements in the Times and three other London daily newspapers.

Riot at Stockport. — The following statement of the Stockport riot we condense from the Morning Chronicle: — Stockport has long been celebrated for its Sunday schools ; and, for a number of years, both the Protestants and Roman Catholics have been in the habit at Whitsun-tide, or shortly after, of parading their children through the streets on one Sunday — the Protestants generally on Whit-sunday, and the Roman Catholics as soon after as convenient. -This has been permitted to the Roman Catholics without molestation for thirty years but a Protestant Operative Society has sprung up, and the spirit which has been evoked by their labours seized at once upon the occasion for; display afforded by the recent proclamation. The schools announced their intention of , walkiDg ,last Sunday; and the Protestauts directly reminded them of the proclamation-, and in terms indicating the worst feelings. The procession took place, however, and was peaceably conducted, a body of Irishmen, four -abreast, marching in front as in advance, and others accompanying U as a side guard. , There were in the procession a few crosses, but little display of any other kind ; no canonicals, no guild dresses, = no banners. Sunday night passed off wi tb, quietness ; but o.n Monday the breach of the proclamation formed the subject of the conversation in the .town ; and at night a party of Irishmen aud Englishmen meeting at a public house, out of which -what may.be termed -the, lrish ' dis-. trict branches, and getting from, words to blows, the. Irish ran into John-street and Edward-street, and got a reinforcement from their countrymen. The English also sought support, and in the end the Irish were thrashed, and many very ill-treated. The discqmfitnre of the previous night soured the temper of the Irish : and, smarting under it they assembled about twenty minutes past six at Cbestergate, in close proximity to another of their quarters, and soon a number of lads pro-

ceeding forward made an attack with stones upon a party of ten or twelve men," who repelled them and diove them back into Lord-street. At a turn in that street the lads gave a signal which resulted in tbe rapid appearance of a body of men armed with .the most indiscriminate weapons, pokers, pieces of chairs, slicks, sickles, and even scythe blades. The .young men and those who bad joined them, on seeing the first skirmish, ran back closely pursued ; but having escaped, their pursuers sent two stones through Alderman Graham's windows, (a surgeon distinguished for the strong support he gives to protestant principles) and then turning off to St. Peter's Churrh.schoolroom, they broke all the windows in it, and damaged the building. Returning to Alderman Graham's honse, they finished'the work they had begun. The Protestants ..had in the meantime assembled, ond coming down in force upon them, at once commenced an attack, which was of the most fearful description, the two parties righting with the utmost fury. The result was that the Irish were beaten back to their own residences ; but still continued the fray even at their own doors, and (it is said)- ascended ,to the roofs of their bouses, to pitch missiles from thence upon their assailants, their houses were broken into, and the men searched after with an eagerness which can only be equalled by a victorious soldiery sacking a town. In some places the assailants ascended to the tops o. f houses, unroofed them, and gained an entrance by that- means ; and in numerous houses not a single vestige of furniture remains beyond small pieces of earthenware and fragments of shelves. In Rock Itow, on Wednesday morning, tbe street was covered some inches thick with a mixture of flock and chaff, which had formed the beds of the unfortunate resideuts ; and in several houses there are evident indications that attempts had been made to set fire to them. The doors were battered in and broken ; the windows denuded of frame, lead, or glass ; aud in one instance tbe greater part of a wall has been razed to supply the missiles for the fearful onslaught. There was, however, a clear discrimination ; and amid the devastation several houses remained untouched, upon the doors of one or two of which, on Wednesday morning, there was chalked the expressive word " England," in large letters, as if the inhabitants were fearful of another attack, and bad adopted that mode of securing themselves. The fury of the mob was not confiued to Rock Row, however ; parties were detached while the melee was proceeding there, and went up to the Roman Catholic chapel of' St. Michael, a place not far off, and here tbeir proceedings were of the thorough inconoclastic order. Tbe first attack there was upon the windows, which were broken in a very short space of time, and the mob broke in at the front door, another section doing the same by a side dooi. Uniting their efforts inside, they went at once to the altar, and destroyed the tabernacle with all its furniture,inclnding candlesticks, figures of Christ, the Virgin, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Joseph. The whole of the altar, with the exception of the base, was destroyed. Next the pews were pulled down and thrown iDto tbe street; the seats in a large gallery shared the same fate, and an organ, worth £50, also fell a sacrifice. When the lawless mob evacuated the place, little more remained standing thanffie four walls. A valuable chalice, understood to be of the value of some hundreds of pounds, presented receutly to the chapel by a French nobleman, was an object for which much search was made, as the mob bad some idea that it was kept in the chapel, but fortunately it W3S safe in the house of the Rev. Robert Foster, M.A., the priest, who reshies not far off. About the time the first attack was made on the chapel, a body of boys proceeded into Mersey-street,- and were heard consulting whether they should not break into Mr. Foster's house, which is situate in the street, but they were diverted from their purpose by two men, who assured them that they were mistaken in the house ; and af'er appearing irresolute for some time, ihey departed, the rapidity of their movements being accelerated by the approach of a party of tbe 4th infantry. The same scenes were enacted at Edgely, with the addition that there they entered the house of the priest, the Rev. Randolph Frith, who escaped maltreatment by getting upon the roof of the house, They turned tbe furniture into the street, and set it on fire in front of the chapel, where it continued to burn for some lime. The magistrates assembled, and proceeded to the place of tbe riots and read the Riot Act, the Mayor performing that duty, the police arming themselves with cutlasses. They also obtained the assistance of sixty men of the 4th Regiment of Infantry, and by tbeir aid all was quieted by about eleven o'clock. The police in the mean time proceeded to make arrests, calling to their assistance a number of young men of the town, and, in addition to those who bad been taken by them, they had apprehended 109, of whom 66 were wounded, some fearfully on the head and face. One of these, an unfortunate Irishman, whose name is not precisely ascertained, but who is called Darby Scahan by some people, d'ed of his wounds in the cells at the police office, having received a fracture of the skull and a cut on the head about four inches long, and into the cause of this man's death tbe coroner is to open an inquiry. He appears to have been killed by a blow from a pitchfork. The prisoners were kept in the court house,, where they w,ere attended, to, requiring the services of no fewer' than six surgeons to dress, the wounds they bad received. On Wednesday morning the magistrates, with the mayor at tbeir head, sat at the court-house, and had the prisoners brought before them. A more ghastly sight it is scarcely possible to conceive. Several of them had tbeir arms in slings, and bad been beaten until their flesh could scarcely be touched, and their features witnessed to the silent endurance of physical pain. Tbe heads of others were bound up in handkerchiefs, and the majority of the rest "were, plastered on the forshead and nose, and several had their shirts saturated wiih gore. Against a large number witnesses were produced, who swore that they saw them throwing stones, and fighting with hammers, scythes, spades, sickles, or other deadly weapons: and they were "remanded to "Friday. Against a great number, however, no evidence was forthcoming ;" the persons who liad given them in charge not having come up. That they had been in the rows was unquestionable, from tbe marks that were upon them ; but their accusers not presenting themselves, they were discharged on their own recognizances to keep the peace, and to appear when called on. Tbree-of,thein were among the party who sacked one of the .chapels. Several declared that they had only come into town that

day, and were dragged out of their bed ; and some who had severe cuts were, among those who had thus unluckily made a first entrance into the arena of strife at Stockport."