LATEST ENGLISH NEWS. [From the Melbourne Argus]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 838, 13 August 1853, Page 3

LATEST ENGLISH NEWS. [From the Melbourne Argu s]

The Argo. — Steam has, at length, triumphed, This vessel has made the passage in 65 days, and it is therefore our pleasing doty to congratulate her commander in having accomplished the shortest passage on record. We had previously heard an excellent character of this magnificent vessel, which her present performance has fully justified, and henceforth we trust the gloom which has recently overspread steam nc vigstion in general, will be dispelled by this feat of the Argo, which proves what can be accomplished by a first-rate vessel, and an experienced and enterprising commander. The Argo left Southampton- on the evening of the 81 H* of May, and reached the Heads yesterday morniDg.

What makes the passage rather remarkable is ihe fact that she only touched at St. Vincent's, where she arrived on the 18:h Mny, and where she was detained coaling six diys, in consequence of bad weather.- The route calling at the Cape is umlnubte .ly most objectionable for Australia, and the present rapid passage of this steamer, taken in connection. with the Melbourne's passage from Lisbon, confirms the idea which we have always entertained, that to this deviation from the proper course, in calling at the ' Cape, is mainly attributable the long passages which the' other steam-vessels have universally made. The Argo is particularly well suited for the long passage. Independent of her great siz?, her engines are of no less than three hundred horse power, and she has so much room for coal, that she has still sufficient quantity left to take her to Sydney. Her accommodation for passengers is very superi' r, her whole cabins being fitted up in a handsome and comfortable style ; and, altogether, she is highly creditable to the enterprising company who have despatched, her to our shores. . The steamer Great Britain, now at Bristol, is to undergo important alterations before she again leaves for Australia. One of her masts will be taken away, and the other three will be squarerigged fore and aft, much the same as a 60-gun frigate. She will, consequently, combine all the powers of a clipper-ship, as well as the auxiliary, ha ing a full complement of seamen. Her departure will be delayed until the end of June.— Times. The Directors of the submarine telegraph have succeeded in effecting their communication with Middlekirk, near Ostend. The cable was safely landed at one o'clock p.m., on the 6th of May. — Morning Chronicle.

The Funds, 6th May.— The English funds maintained their prices, Although .the market has again been affected by an active demand, for money, which has prevailed both in the Slock Exchange and out of doors. Consols opened at' IOOf to |-, and ultimately returned to that quotat 00, alier having receded to IOOf. The telegraphic quotations from Paris to-day at the close of business, showed a general improvement in stocks and slnr s. The prospectus has been issued of an undertaking called the Melbourne and Colonial House Investment Company, with a capi'al of £200,000 t in £5 shares. The object of its promoters is to ship the complete materials of small fire-proof brick cottages to Melbourne," Victoria, ready for immediate erection in that colony.

DiUTii of Lady Dalhousie. — On the 6th May intelligence reached London, by el- ctric telegraph, that Lady Da'housie died on board the Monarch, when off theLanu's JEnd, on the 3rd instant. Her Ladyship was reluming from India, having left Calcutta on the 2nd January. The Monarch experienced very fine weather on her passage until Sunday last> when a very strong southerly gale came on, which produced in her Ladyship such a degree of extreme debility from sea-sickness, that her frame sunk under its effects* The body was instantly conveyed to London..

Election Committees. —Leicester { Sir J. Walmsley and Mr. R. Gardner are duly elected. Tynernouth : Mr. H. Taylor, not daly elected- tagents guilty o! bribery and treating. Cockermouth : Mr. H. A k Aglionby, and General Wyndham, duly elected. Taunton ; Sir E. T. Colebroke, not duly elected — agents guilty of bribery and treating; as regards Mr. A. Mills, the election void. New Ross : Mr. C, G. Duffy, duly elected. Barnstaple ; Sir W k A. Frazer, Bart., and Mr. Beraridge, not .duly elected — agents guilty of bribery and treating. Mayo : Mr. O. Hi,:gins and Mr. G. R. Moore, both duly elected. Hereford : The petition against Sir R. Price and Mr. H. N., Clifford has been withdrawn. By a decision of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, a young news*agent in Dublin, named Russborougb, has come into possession of *' ten thousand a year."

The Price op Wool. — The Galway Packet says :—": — " It is worthy of remark that the price of wool, which was only 18s. 6 i. -last October, is now run up to £1 3s, Gi. This extraordinary rise is attributed to the short supplies from Australia, where stock farming has been neglected for the more exciting and profitable occupation of gold-digging." The returns from the Board of Trade, detailing the progress of our exports during the month, ending on the slh ult., are very satisfactory. The total value of< the shipments was £7,887,233, against £6,400,415 in 1852. During the first quarter of the present year the aggregate value of the exports was £20,39 1,723, against £16,575,748 last year, showiug an increase of £3,815,975 or 23 per cent. — London Neas, 7th May. The provincial journals still report movements in all quarters for an advance of wages, coupled in some places, with demands for fewer hours, and other boons. The Pope has ordered the Roman artist, Jacometti, to execute in marble a statue representing " Judas giving the kiss of treason to our Saviour," which is to be placed in an upper hall of the Vatican. The sum advanced by the War Office in the shape of bounties to militia recruits, amounts already to £480,000, • " • The subscription' for v the restoration of Doncaster Church, recently destroyed by fire, now amounts to upwards of £25,000. „ In the Lords, 2nd May, Earl Grey said, that f eliog the importance of there being a fuller dis-' cussion upon the important subject of transportation, than there was on Thursday night, he should on Friday next move that a humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying her Majesty to be graciously pleased to give direciiqns that the regulations with regard to the punishment of criminals sentenced to transportation in force in 1852, might be changed in such a manner as not to prevent the removal of such ofiendera from this country until Parliament had had an opportunity of considering those measures. (Bear.) The motion, after some discussioo, was fixed for Tuesday, 10th May. Her Majesty has presented the executors of the late Mr. Neeld, woo, it .will be remembered, left his properly to the Crown, with £1,000 each. He left them only £100. The Queen; has also granted an annuity of. £100 to Mrs. Neale, who saved Mr. Neeld's life on hi« making a .rash attera^pb'nrit during a sUy at North Marston^ where" he now. lies buried.

AGRICULTURAL PfcdskElUTY IN THE BORDER ' S CouNTRf.-=-The fanning interest was never in •» mote thriving condition (ban at present in tbis fpart of Scotland* On the Cheviot Tange, the 'out-going tentntf ire receiving no less than £2 for the ewe and lamb, which is 30 per cent, above ihe average of late years. A very thriving trade is carried on by the batchers in forwarding dead meat to the London market, where our Scotch mutton, in particular, is in great request. This has bad the effect of raising the price of meat from Id. to 2d. per lb. in the border towns. High prices are stimulating the farmers to be" snore careful of their stock, which they not only feed with oats all the winter, but also shelter them by means of ziuc-covered sheds on the •hill sides wherever the stock is much exposed. H ale's Rocket Factory at Rotherhithe. A late event invests tbis place with extraordinary interest. The circumstances are briefly these. In the Times of the 15th appeared the announcement that upon intelligence received by the •Secretary of State for the Home Department and. the Commissioners of Police, active measures had •been taken to substantiate the charges which have long been -vaguely preferred against M. Kossuth and bis adherents. " Upon this legal-information/ - said our contemporary, " a bouse in the occupa- • lion of M, Kossuth was searched yesterday morning at an early hour by the 'competent authorities, ■ acting, we presume, *nder the Secretary of Stale's warrant ; and the result of this investigation was the discovery of a Urge store of arms, •ammunition, and materials of war. 1 ' This an-, nouncement was, it will be seen in another column, the subject of conversation in the House of Com- ■ tnons on Friday. "" Nevertheless, who the per- j «ons are against wfcbm proceedings have been taken, Lord Palmerston," says the Times " has not told the House ; but, neither has be stated who they are nor. The refusal of the minister to exonerate M. Kossuth from the suspicion ■which his friendi were endeavouring to shake off, is at least strong presumptive evidence that Lord Palnierston does not hold it to be altogether unfounded ; and for the present,- we must be allowed to retain an opinion which was not taken up, •on light grounds, and can only be refuted by positive evidence." The premises upon which the seizure has been made are the rocket- factory of Mr. Hale, on the west bank of the Surrey Canal, near the Plough Bridge, at Rotherhithe. In the building shown in the centre of the view •are manufactured the rockets, -which are then placed in the shed shown on the left.; the premises in the rear being a rice-mill. Mr. Hale is a wellknown inventor, and has been for some years past engaged in perfecting a war rocket, which rotates on its axis, like ft rifle ball, and carries no atick ; his patent for which he is stated by his son to have sold to America, Denmark, Switzerland, and other foreign powers. It is further^stated that the rockets which were thus seized were manufactured upwards of three years ago. On Saturday last they were put on board barges in the river, and conveyed to the Royal Arsenal, at Woolwich, and have, with a large -quantity of composition for filling rockets, been «ince placed in a safe locality. The Daily News states that Koasuth's connection vith the affair is explained by his being known to Mr. Hale, and having suggested improvements in rockets of his manufacture. — Illustrated News. Death in the Snuff-Box. — On Wednesday, Daniel Cannon, snuff and tobacco manufacturer, was fined by the Commissioners of Excise, in the mitigated penalty of £25 (bis liability being £300) for mixing ehr ornate of lead with snuff. The analytical officer of excise thaving proved the adulteration, Mr. Cannon •stated that he had no idea of defrauding the revenue or the public by increasing the weight of •the snuff, and that his only object was to add brilliancy to the article by the mixture. Mr. Commissioner Stephen observed that the act was not only illegal, but deleterious to health, and •therefore cautioned the defendant against a repetition of the offence. Mbs. Beecher Stowe. — Tbis 'amiable lady, the author of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," had been •entertained at a soiree in the Glasgow City Hall, when upwards of 2000 citizens, male and female, assembled to do her honor. At this meeting resolutions and thanks 'were showered on this highly-talented writer, for which her iusband, Professor Stowe, returned thanks. From Glasgow Mrs. Stowe took the train for Edinburgh. Crowds were waiting at the station ; and it was quite a triumphal procession to the residence of Mr. Wigbam ;(witb whom Mr. and Mrs. Stow reside). The Scotsman says-: — " Mrs. Stowe is an extremely pleasant-looking person, about the middle age, her expression homely and intelligent, her complexion dark and somewhat sallow, but relieved by her remarkably fine bright black eyes. She was very plainly dreiseJ, and seemed <■ both startled and gratified by the extreme warmth and enthusiasm of her reception." In due course Mrs. Stowe And party visited the Castle, the University, Heriot's Hospital, aud other interesting points in the city. A banquet was also held ia the Music Hall, which was appropriately decorated. . ., " "