ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4299, 31 December 1874, Page 2

ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA.

ARRIVAL OF THE CYPHRENES. [Pebss Telegraph Agency.] Auckland, Wednesday. The Cyphrenes arrived at midnight; She left Sydney on the 23rd, and proceeds to San Francisco at 11 to-day. She brings the following LATEST TELEGRAMS. London, December 15. The editor of the Ultramontane organ Germania, who is a member of the German Parliament, has been arrested, and sentenced to a year’s imprisonment, for an offence against the press laws. December 17. The trial of Count Arnim has terminated. For the defence, it was maintained that the Count had a right to retain the documents* He was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. The prosecutor had demanded two years and a-half. There is a wide-spread report that Bismarck will resign his position as Chancellor ; the ostensible cause is a vote by Parliament condemnatory of the arrest of the editor of the * Germania . It is expected that the Emperor will refuse his resignation. December 19. Wheat unaltered. Large transactions in copper at easy prices. The mails from Australia via San Francisco were delivered on the 15 th, and those via Brindisi were delivered to-day. Dr. Lang and Major Warburton are passengers ,by the steamer which has just left with the mails for Australia. The steamer Singapore, to be employed in the ToiTes Strait service, has left the Clyde for Queensland. The transit of Venus was observed very successfully in Egypt, India, Russia, and Japan. Kalahama, King of the Hawaiian Islands, has arrived at Washington. The city was gaily decorated in honor of his visit. He was coi'dially welcomed by the Presideixt. The Reichstag, on a division of 199 to 94, passed a vote of confidence in Bismarck, and the Emperor refused to accept his resignation of office as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chancellor.

In delivering judgment yesterday in the case of Count Arnim, the Court exonerated the accused from the charge of embezzle* ment. There was nothing to show that the ambassador had acted malct. fide in the removal of despatches like those he had taken. It was a punishable offence, however, but had been somewhat mitigated by the subsequent restoration of the papers. It was also laid down that the retention of the document claimed by Arnim, after they had been demanded, was a breach of the disciplinary regulations of the Foreign Office, but not a criminal offence. The Court expressed an opinion that the documents still missing will be discovered in the archives of the embassy at Paris. The Lyttelton has been wrecked in Algoa Bay. The crew were saved, and it is believed the cargo will be recovered. Paris, December 18. The Due De Gazes repudiates the lengthy complaints of Spain in regard to French aid to Carlists, and reiterates the friendliness of the Government towards that of Spain. Singapore, December 21. The steamer Pera left Galle on the 19th, wltlx Cite nutU*,--- ———— —— Australian- summary. Sydney, December 23. Sullivan remains in gaol in Melbourne. The steamship proprietors refuse to convey him to New Zealand. The ship Apelles reports seeing a burning ship soon after leaving Calcutta ; name unknown. A boat has been beached near Cape Moreton, •udth two persons, evidently escapees from New Caledonia. They had only one oar to make shift for a rudder, spritsail, bagging jib, one pound of biscuit, and a pint of water aboard, and no compass. They steered by the sun. The names given are Crone and Busnot* It has been decided to open advanced classes for girls in connection wirii the Brisbane Grammar School. The Victorian Appropriation Bill has passed all its stages. The prorogation takes place on

Tuesday. Another woman has committed suicide in the Yarra, and left a note giving her watch and locket to whoever found her body. A Commission has been appointed for the Intercolonial Exhibition, to be held in Melbourne in August, prior to the Philadelphia Exhibition. Seven boxes of silk grain have been shipped from Brisbane to England. The schooner Isabella arrived at Mackay, Queensland, from the Solomon' Islands. She brings a story that the second mate of the brig James Byrne and boat’s crew had arrived there, and reported that the vessel was taken by the natives, and all hands massacred, at Lord Howe’s Island. A moonlight concert in the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, in aid of the Orphan Asylum, was a great success. Mr. Simpson, of the Epsom branch of the Bank of Victoria, has been arrested on a charge of forgery. The racehorse Protos has been sold for 260 guineas to Mr. Clibborn. Newcastle Shipping.—Arrived ; Dec. 19th, The Douglas, from Wellington; 20th, the Anne Melhuish,-from Wellington. THE OTAGO AT THE BLUFF. The Bluff, Wednesday Evening. The s.s. Otago, Captain John McLean, araived here this afternoon. She left Melbourne on the 23rd instant, and called at Milford Sound, which she reached on the 28th instant. She landed her passengers there for a run, and sailed again on the 29th instant, for The Bluff. She had fine weather all the passage across. The Otago has forty-seven saloon and twenty-four steerage passengers, and 250 tons of cargo for all ports. The Otago sails again to-night for Port Chalmers. The news by the Otago, both from England and Australia, has been anticipated by way of Auckland, but the following commercial intelligence has not been forestalled : Melhoounb, Dec. 23. There is very little business doing. A private telegram from Calcutta reports that there are fears of the jute crop proving short. A private telegram from London reports a rise of 20s. in the price of hops. Californian oats have been sold at 4s. Sid. to ss. lid. Wheat, is very firm at ss. 9id.

The following nainps are in the saloon passenger list of the Otago, for Welhngton: MrsSnodgrass, Mrs. Pearson, Mrs. 1 enwick, and Pergusson; Misses Pills and Cole; Messrs. Wright, Taylor, Larkes, Wharton, Webb, Gillespie, Cole, Meeson, Carlisle, Terry, Pearson, Tinker, Mackie, Masters McDougal (two), and Taylor. The Otago has only ten tons of cargo for Wellington.