TOWN TALK.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 39, 1 September 1864, Page 3

TOWN TALK.

(From Smith i Elder and Co.'t Monthly Circular ) Mr. Gladstone, has had to atone for the mistake, he committed in allowing himself to be pushed forward as the Government adviser of Garibaldi. TTe lias had to solicit an interview with one of the leading Garibaldi poxnmittees.i and to explain what part lie really took in driving the Italian General out of the" country. Like all explanations,' it leaves the question in precisely the same position. Mr. Gladstone- has stated what he said — no one expected him to say what lie meant : — and his henrers have had to express their satisfaction and-, delight at the explanation. - f Determined to regain his lost ground aa soon as possible, and with a shrewd eye to the.approaching general election, Mr. Gladstone ha 9 made a prcat «perch on the extension of the franchise, in which he has laid down the principle that every man who is not incapacitated by personal unfitness, or whose admission would not be attended by political danger, is morally entitled to come within the pale 'of the constitution. This principle, the corner-stone of liberal politics, has been laid down scores of times before by liberal statesmen, but at the prrsent moment it appears to be regarded as somefhine more revolutionary than the "charter." The Timeshas been in agonies of indignation. Mr. Gladstone is compared to Robespierre, Tom Paine, and Anarchams Clootz, opening those vials of wrath which are labelled universal suffrage, anarchy, and confiscation. The cry, hnwe er, is not taken up by the country, and Mr. Gladstone still commands confidence as one of the most practical of our statesmen. Session after session, for the last five years, it has looked to him for the useful measures necessary to redeem the discussions of Parliament- from the reproach of absolute barrenness, and it has seldom looked in vain. A series of masterly and triumphant budgets, the French treaty; and the Annuities P,ill/nre measures by which the administration of Lord Palmerston will be remembered, when mur-h which is of doubtful merit in its charnctcr will be charitably buried with its bones. Mr. Gladstone may become Prime Minister in a future Parliament, 'after the .great Conservative party have had an innings. Mr. Gladstone has published his speech in the form of a pamphlet, nnd the Monileur has quoted the whole of it. The object of such an unusual and curious publication in the French official journal is doubtless to show that England is a convert to Imperial ideas of universal suffrage — of course with all its consequences. Party feeling here runs somewhat high on the "Hano-Gorman question, the .sympathy of the majority bciiiT with the weakest belligerents — the Danes. Much dissatisfaction has been shown at certain civilities extended to the Prussian ambassador by her Majesty at Osborne, and more dissatisfaction with Prince Alfred and his advisers for t'.ecepting the order of the " Black Eaglo " from the King of Prussia at such a season. There has been a little sea fight between the Austrians and Panes, almost " in the chops of the channel,"' in which neither party seems to have been really victorious, though the victory is claimed for and by !he Danes. A popular demonstration was made Kgainst Prince Hesse at a Volunteer Eeview in Hyde Park, and another demonstration at Cambridge in favor of Denmark, on the occasion of a recent State visit paid to that town by the Prince r\nd Princess of Wales. On the other hand, tfnglish travellers are boingmost inhospitably, received in Germany. The Prince of Wales has made the first real •■lunge into public life— following the example of i us father — by presiding at the annual dinner of the "Royal Literary Fund." Ho was supported by a fair number of distinguished literary men. The Prince's speeches, which he read from notes, v.-ere certainly not remarkable for that dashing i -rillianee which we expect from young men; and Karl Stanhope, Lord John Russell, Mr. Anthony Trollope, and others, who spoke after him, apv eared to reign in their eloquence. The subscripi ions, however, reached a large sum— nearly two thousand pounds. Several graceful tributes were paid during the evening, by the Prince and others, to the late W. M. Thackeray. The levees and drawing-rooms held by the Prince and Pnncess of Wales, as representatives of the Queen, have been rather thinly attended —a fact attributed to the disparaging way in which such ceremonies were spoken of in. the royal manifesto which we published last month. The unusual duties thrown upon the Prince are beginning to tell upon" "his income, and it is proI. able that this matter will soon be brought before the House of Commons. " The Derby " this year, more numerously attended than "usual in consequence 'oT the fine weather, has ended in landing a comparative outsider as the winner. Blair Athol, the fortunate colt who came in first by two lengths, stood very low down in the list, and thirteen to one was" freely betted again 8t it bn starting. Much money has, of course, changed hands under these cir'euniscances,.^and several well-known sporting men have won sums varying from thirty thousand pounds to ten thousand pounds sterling. Mr. I'Anson, the chief owner of the horse, has won a Derby and a St. Leger race before, to say nothing of fourteen Queen's plates last year. ' The second horse was General Peel, the property of Lord Glasgow, who is one of the most honorable men on. the turf ; and Mr. Merry's Scottish Chief came in third. ..•-..-■.• - ; . The "Oaks" — a race next in importance, .was won easily by a French mare— Fille de l'Air— an<l her owners were suspected of having "jockeyed lher in former minor races, to conceal her capabinities. The result was a demonstration, which, early all the French newspapers 'have 'commented upon in an unfriendly" spirit. The official Honiteur has condescended to pander to the-igno-rance aiid narrow-minded iealousy of a portion of the French public by representing that the demonstration was provoked by the fact of her beincr a French- mare", and it ' complacently contraststo°the advantage of French civilization and cour-. tesy the applause which, saluted the English" horse Ranger, when he beat La Toucqnes at Suresne:ini June last- year. 1 .'/-■■}■ ;/-■- - V-" T c -"\ - : \'c^', i \rbich--iß'-de9t3hea:.ito.'i-cast i - i .mT the' shade -the Laffarge trialijhasvjust been concluded iri'^Paris, ending ; witb:^the.;con.-: demnation-^f tnecriininal. spme'ofite details' it resembles r tlie';great r Palmer fcase-^-the: lives of the victims having been insured for large sum»jn.i

affair has "also bcon- again^orougfii^ffinSoFtfi^^ ■ "tice of the > French lagißlaturei-. JL^urque* W/*,*^^. man wlio^oreiv faf-al' re&hm&MWttfavl&a* «f> ;highwaymanv-^,nd"who- wa»- -falsely--- aoounecUof— !•—<• Hia property was confiscated; and^ though #on:» yeara afterwarda the" •real rjobb«^w»ajclißcoTer«>d« ?tho goyerninent could nevQT loa gotitgiWisgorgo "this money. Thei*e x ia*Ww'B6m|9 ? pro^^rof-toay , ' iustide T l^e ; ;Lc^^ , •storyi ha9^l:ong-beeri^dramatiße,d' under J f the-weUiu.Al known title [.of " The Courier;pf Lyons." - Civil Seryice^cleris^e>errge¥tHe'rcr^dittQf l>^iig^.T very 'hard workers during office but no on« that r they amused thomsslvca with^ occu* patidns' m,ore : : hafmTe¥B-than or reading "Hhe newspapers.' '"A 1 -^ serious ?:case off C pamblingj -however, wlueh has been discovered. : at^<r T< the War Officerhas r helped;'tdcalteri this '"opinion^ i «sl It appears that a number of • chief clerks at that -establisHme-ritP h*ay e^'been r via 1 the linabit^Tfoßßomo - time pa'st^ipf' playing at cafds'and dice frontteleven to l)hW^, ;? and^losing Jnbtlonlyitheirri'Balaries, but , pledging^ their c credit.nvfA. B Isoo&aadhe' discovery was iriadeftwo of' the clerksi werefj'summaHly di»« -misscd,''arid-four- orlfive others ihave:beeriitaken off the list for promotiort.ic ;What tmak'ess the.rmatt»r more serious and fully justifies the rigorous pro- ' eeeding- '6f <th'e Minister : : of War,na ] thatoloadeiifr' dice jhave' been fraudulently-employed-fdr upward»r:?y of two^yeaW"^-: ~>v : ~ T-i:--r--.--> sl;iid o-s/i hna ,bcdz-;S. s:.?' The "Metropolitan -Board - off^Works tharejiKa'a" g,a power of renaming, all our streets, but this power ;? 'ia i not'alwayß exercised- wi'th*3ud'gnienty' ; - It is'tjuy*they kave got rid of several hundred I ' Eirig- street* li4iT: and Queen streets, to; the rgreatrdelight p^ postmen and cabmen, but- they,-have.. juat-added^aao.^er.^.^ Essex-road to the fourteen", streets" 'andJ^placoß' bearing thesariie^title in London. iA The'' objection to (his would probably not be so greatif the*road ~" really; went- ito - Essex, but - it" ' bo- happens .thatW/Ol leads direct to Hertfordshire. _ ---• -" - v , *- ff -"~.-ry — .■ .■ ~. *n &*