OUR HOME LETTER,

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 29, 29 August 1868, Page 3

OUR HOME LETTER,

(From our own Correspov4enf). ..London, 30th June. Although Parliament has not yet completed its work ,and been dissolved, yet great preparations are being.made for the coining igction, addresses being issued on all wcrcsl In Parliament itself not nearly so much interest is now being taken, as there is scarcely anytldng but routine work to be done— and the remainder of the session is looked upon as anetessary evil. The Suspensory Bill, upon vrhiph so much interest has been centred, has just been thrown out by the House of Lords upon the second reading, by a large majority. This course is to be regretted, as it will undoubtedly place the Upper House in an attitude of hostility towards the new Parliament, for popular opinion i 3 strongly against the continuance of the present Irish Church j Establishment, and there is little doubt that tins view will be more strongly reflected by the new members than by the present ones. In the House of Commons a Bill has been introduced by Mr. | Hardy to facilitate the registration of voters for this year, so as to enable the new Parliament to assemble early in De- • cember The Boundary Bill has passed the House of Commons, as have also the Scotch and Irish Reform Bills, the plan for the re-distribution of seats in the latter Bill having been omitted. With regard to the registration of voters a rather curious question has arisen. The overseers of Salford find that an Act of Parliament was passed some years since, which, in order to prevent Acts of Parliament being too verbose, provides that " All words imparting the masculine gender shall be deemed aud taken to include females, and the singular to include the plural and the plural the singular, unless the contrary as to gender or number is expressly pro-, vided." As the new Reform Act does not contain any provision to the contrary, the overseers have arrived at the conclusion- that "they have no alternative but to place all duly qualified females on the next Parliamentary register for the borough." The overseers of Bradford not caring to take such a responsibility communicated with the Home Secretary, who, while declining to construe the terms of an Act of Parliament, intimates to them that " It is clear the Legislature did not intend to give votes to women." The overseers of Charlton-upon-Medlock hold this opinion, for^hcy have decided against the claim for electoral rights vhich had been made by the lady householders of that place. The Grand Jury were summoned on the 2nd instant to the Court of Queen's Bench, to consider the Bill charging Mr. Eyre with illegal acts while Governor of (Jamaica. Mr. Justice Blackburn delivered a most lucid charge to them, in which the whole matter was brought under their consideration, and the law applying to the case laid down by him. After four hour's cosultation the jury declared that they found "No bill," and the prosecution therefore was at an end. It is now scarcely likely that the Jamaica - Committee will risk another defeat by attenrpting further proceedings, especially as the amount of eucouragement they receive from the public is very small. No one supposes that' the prime movers 111 1 tt^yuatter are actuated by any base faenSH^st probably they are sustain^T^y a belief that they are doing right^St certainly they have committed a great mistake — and public opinion has stanped the movement with genuine disapproval. Chief Justice Cockburn has, however, dissented from the exposition of the law as set down by Judge Blackburn, who announced, in his charge to the jury, that Ins views were concurred in by the Court generally. This misunderstanding has been explained by Mr. Justice Blackburn, who clings resolutely to his own version of the law applicable to the case. It will scarcely, perhaps, be believed that Mr. J. S. Mill has presented a petition from the Foreign Affairs Committee of Macclesfield, condemning the Abyssinian war, the murder of King Theodore, and the burning of Magdala ; and praying for a Select Committee to enquire into all the circumstances ! But a few days before j this, " Punch " had been suggesting it to j the Jamaica Committee as a proper thing for them to do, and people were for a long time unable to believe that anything, more than a -joke was intended by the report of such a petition having been presented- Of course such an utterly absurd proposition could not for a moment be entertained, but it serves to show the extent to which some people will go. Several detachments of the Abyssinian troops have arrived in this country, and have been most enthusiastically received. The International Enfield Rifle Match came off at Edinburgh on the 10th inst , and was decided in favor of England. The English twenty scored 1068, the Scotchj 1057, and the Irish, 980 ; A grand review of the Volunteers was held by the Queen on the 20th, in Windsor Park, when twenty-seven thousand men asseoir bled. • ' ' " The race week at Ascot this year was very fine. The Prince and Princess of Wales appeared on the course, and it is generally said to have been a brilliant meeting. The Winner of the Derby won the Ascot Cup easily, and the second and third Derby horses were the pnly ones that ran in the race. Lord Hastings' horse, The Earl, which might have won the Derby, has won the Grand Prize of - Paris, and the marquis has won a very large hum of money, sufficient to clear off his debts. A great (leal of squabbling has taken place with reference tq the breakdown .of Lady Elizabeth in the Derby, and an action, was at one time threatened to be brought against Admiral Rous, -for the language used by him in connection therewith,; but.it is believed that matters have been amicably arranged. Mr. Sullivan, of the "Dublin Weekly News," and Mr. Pigott, of the " Irishman/ have been released from prison, on entering into special recognizances to be i of good behaviour for two years. Fenianism is now scarcely heard of here, {although occasionally a slight manifestaJtion takes place in Ireland. The ChanjgceUoT of the Exchequer has intimated >5-ihat Government recognises the claim made for the damage done by the explosion at ClerkenwejU, and . has announced . tfca^an official will be sent to assess the igl^The ajmounfc is said to be about

* The new Act to provide for .carrying out of capital punishment within prison has been printed.'' It come* into immediate operation, and extends over the whole of the United Kingdom. After reciting, that it is expedient that capital punishment should be carried into effect within prisons, it provides that for the future the punishment of death is to take place within prisons in the presence of the sheriffs and officials. The surgeon of the gaol is to certify the death, and the sheriff to sign a. declaration as to the carrying out of the sentence, and a coroner's inquest is to be held, on the body. The Secretary of Stale may make rules, and a certificate and declaration are to be exhibited for twenty-four hours near the principal entrance to* the prison. A remarkable action for libel — Risk Allah v. Whitehurst has just been tried in the Court of Queen's Bench, thp damages being laid at £20,000. ' The defendants are connected with the " Daily Telegraph : " the plaintiff beiug a Syrian gentlemau, whose trial in Brussels for the double crime of murder and forgery excited much interest in Europe towards the end of 1866. Risk Allah was charged with the murder of a young gentleman namedßeadly, aconnection of Ins deceased wife, in whose death he was supposed to have some pecuniary interest, and who was found shot through the head in the bedroom of an hotel at Brussels, in which they both lodged ; but after a trial, which lasted some days, Risk Allah was acquitted. His complaint against the "Daily Telegraph" was that that journal assumed all along that he was guilty, both in its correspondence from Brussels written during the trial, and in the leading article that followed his acquittal. There are other imputations from which Risk Allrh had to clear his character ; he was at one time suspected* though it appears without reason, of having poisoned his wife ; and at another, an action was brought against him in reference to some share transactions, -from which some offensive- imputations arose, that^ere, however, withdrawn at the termination of the trial. The "Daily Telegraph's" mode of dealing with these imputations formed one of the subjects of the action, which "was finally decided in favor of the plaintiff, with damages for £960. This action was followed by another against the proprietors of the "Morning Herald" and "Standard." They pleaded, however, that the | articles were inserted without actual malice and without gross 'negligence ; further pleading an apology, and paid 20s I into Court. The jury in this case found for the defendants. It lias been, stated that the affair will cost the " Telegraph £7,000 or £8,000, damages and cost 3 included, and that the plaintiff, in cqnsequence of the verdict returned against him in his action against the " Standard," will be no. gainer by the amqunt received for damages in the other action ; so that, as u"3ual,*the lawyers are the only persons who will profit by the proceedings. The notorious Madam Rachel has been figuring for some days at the Marlborough Street Police Court, on the charge of obtaining money under false pretences, from a Mrs.' Borrodaile, a lady of fifty years of age. Mrs. Borrodaile appears to have applied to Madam Rachel to be made "beautiful for ever," and ; according to her statement, she was introduced to a man who was represented to be Lord Ranelagh, the well-known volunteer officer, who, Madam Rachel told her, wa3 most anxiqus to marry her. By the help of Madam Rachel, a lengthy correspondence was carried on, and various sums of money were handed over by Mrs. Borrodaile, under the impression that she was going to marry a lord ; till at length, after parting with some thousands, she appears to have discovered that she was being deluded. Madam Rachel has been committed for trial at the Central Criminal Sessions. It is but just to remark that no one considers Lord Ranelagh is in any way inculpated in this curious, transaction. He states that he remembers being simply introduced to Mrs. Borrodaile when he was once in Madame Rachel's Bhop, but has no further knowledge of her, and certainly has never held any correspondence with her. , The Australian Cricketers have been engaged iv seveial matches, but they do not turn out such good players as thoy have bean represented. One of tne.m " King Cple," dieJ on Thursday kst in G-uy'a Hospital, through ' inflammation of the lungs. The weather has been remarkably fine and dry — since the thunderstorm which" occurred on the Oats day, an account of which I gave in my>last, there has not been a wet day — in fact it may be reckoned "that for eight weeks we have had almost uninterrupted dry weather. A summary of the reports received from the various districts shows an extensive prevalence throughout- England of corn crops much below an. average in present appearance, of failing forage aud pasture for grazing, and of short commons and scarcity^ for the wants of live stock next winter. There is too much/eason to feur that the two deficient harvests of 1866 and 1867. are npw to be followed by a fchirc}, for the growing crop can hardly be estimated at more than an average oven with the finest conceivable July and August, and with unfavorable weather the result would, of course, be considerably leas.. It is rarely that with our proverbially moist cli male we have occasion to wish for rain, bu certainly it would have been most beneficial ately.