OUR HOME LETTER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume 42, Issue I, 28 November 1868, Page 2

OUR HOME LETTER.

(From our Own Correspondent.) . LONDON, 30th September 1868. The discontent in Spain has reached its climax, and the whole kingdom h in a state of revolt. The Queen has fled to France, and is now at Paris, having arrived there this day. On the way, she had an interview with the Emperor Napoleon at Biarritz, which, howover, only lasted fifteen minutes. The following is a brief account of the rise and progress of the insurrection : — On the 18th instant, the fleet stationed at Cadiz rose against the Government, and at the same time the generate who were recently exiled to the Canary Islands arrived at Cadiz in a trading steamer, the garrison making a pronunoiamento in favour of the insurrection before their landing The telegraph wires in Andalusia were at once cut ; and several towns joined the insurrection movemeut. Upon receipt of this intelligence at Madrid Manuel Concha was appointed to the cpmmand of the troops despatched to Castille. General Penzuela to others sent to Catalonia, and General Novaliches to those in Andalusia. Tiie Ministry offered their resignation to the Queen oh the 20th ; General Concha was thon appointed President of the Council off Ministers. On the 22nd it was announced that the entire province of Andaljtia and those of Galicia, Corunna, and ■K?it &7 tt7f ! vhad pronounced in favour o£ X n - Ou the 22nd ' **' was hf.-j B(^2&^ i'the insurgents would agree Kj||jJßßJJAof!>ince of Asturias as King, ' abdicate, on condition -carry on the Regency attained his majority; opposed .to any programme being the the convqeaAssembly, and the a Provisional Gqvern23rd, the insurgents had near Seville, and almost all was in their hands. The BBP^iiu^os^iaxl also declared for them. severe conflict ensued for five hours, ending in the troops fraternising with the people. . v On the 21fch, a desperate engagement took place at Santander, ending in the defeat of the insurgents. General Prim arrived before Carthagena on the 26th with three frigates, and demanded the surrender of tha townj bnj> ;theyGovernor rejected the summons. -The frigates remained in sight, and snon after the town was evacuated by the Governor and tho troops. Meanwhile, the insurrection rapidly spread ; and on the 28th, Goncral Novalischss, who had beeWdsfeatad by the insurgents~and-waun4ed, re-entered Madrid. On th§ 2Qth,Tthft rising in Madrid took place, the trpops fraternising with the people. Concha resigned Ms Jtin'eldbris,rand:«- Jnhta was formed to carry on the duties of Governmont. On jeaeipt of this intelligence, the Queen, wK6 was at St: Sebastian, fled acrosß the frontier, and, as above Btated,

is now at Paris. "From the contradictory nature of the various telegrams,' I cannot vouch for the authenticity of these details, but nexs month I will endeavour to furnish a more complete aajjaccurato account of this apparently su^^sful intorrection. , Some trouble has been expected in India, the tribes on the north-west frontier having revolted. Alargelorce was massed against them in order to crush the disturbance at once, and apparently this object has been attained. , There is no doitbt..that the advance of the Russian frontier has disturbed the minds of several of the native tribes, and disturbances must be lookedior, at least for some time to come. Russia seems to be preparing to take advantage of any European outbreak to further own interests in Turkey, the Danubian provinces now. showing an unruly spirit, which, there is no doubt, is fermented by Russia. There is a very uneasy feeling on the Continents Prance and Prussia may be said to be on the brink of war,_although both nations are earnestly protesting that nothing is farther from their thoughts. In the East, too, Russia is -busily pushing her way, it being stated that hostilities will again commence in Bokhara at the beginning of October. General Russell reports from Aden that the efforts to preserve peace in Abyssinia had proved successful, (if the t\yo principal .native chiefs — Princa Gobayze ' and Prince Kassai— the more powerful of tho two, Gobayze, who Commanded the largest army, and. who had succeeded to the throne of Theodore, had written to Kassai to say that the country was largo enough for both of them, and that for his part he desired peace. Kassai had replied in a similar strain, and thus thera was a prospect of the country remaining at peace, and recovering from the troubles which had oppressed-it for many years. The second trial of Madame Rachel commenced on the 21st instant and lasted till the 25th. The Judge .this time was Mr. Commissioner Kerr. ! ' 'Very little fresh evidence was adduced, and none that could render the position of the defence more satisfactory. The jury took but twenty minutes for consultation, and then delivered a verdict of guilty. The Judge, in passing sentence, said that he should not be worthy of the position, he occupied if he did not do Ms duty to society by making her an .example, and must sentence her to be kept in penal servitude for five years. On the 4fch instant, the coroner's inquest on the unfortunate persons who were destroyed by the railway collision at Abergele was brought to a close, fie jury returning a verdict of manslaughter against the two breakmen, and a strong censure of the conduce pf the stationmaster for the non-observance of the Company's rule — that all goods trains must be shunted at stations or sidings at least ten minutes before a passenger train is due. Following updu this verdict,'- Mr. Wood applied, on behalf of some of the relatives, for a- summons against the station-master, 'on charge of manslaughter, which w.is granted. Tho case lias been partly heaiil, but owing to the imprisonment of the two breaksmen on the charge ;of manslaughter, the proceedings cannot at present be unless a writ of habeas corpus is^btained, as they are important witnesses. Tho London and North-Western Railway has hitherto been singularly fortunate in escaping accidents,. but it appears- to have , been good fortune only, a.id not careful management." On the. 16th instant, another collision occurred at Holy well ; an express train from Chester passing through the station, came into collision with a number of trucks which were being shunted, no signals being up to stop the train. The driver and stoker saved themselves by jumping off, and no lives were lost," bub" much dairage" was done, and several of the passengers slightly injured. Mr. Edwardes Wood, who was a passenger by the train, obtained a summons against the station-master for endangering I his life by wilful omission, and the charge lis now being investigated. Again on the 19th, about eleven o'clock at night, an accident occurred to the Bangor and Leeds mail at Chester, the pointsman having inadvertently. left the points open to a sidling down which a luggage train had been shunted. When the mail approached the station, speed was slackened, and but for that a very serious calamity would have befallen the travellers. As it was, the engine had sufficient force to break several of the goods waggons. Many of the passengers received a rough shock, though no serious injuries have been reported. The clerk in charge of the mail has written to the papers stating that the Company's servants informed him that the truck preceding the one struck by the engine was laden with paraffin, so that there were all the necessary elements for a repetition of the Abergele accident. The Irish mail train from Dublin to Kingstown harbour on the morning of the 25th struck a cow at one of the stations, which threw the engine off the rails and caused several of the passengers to be much shaken, also carrying off a considerable portion of the wooden platform. The Scotch express mail train from London (King's Cross) was discovered to be on fire on the night "of the 2nd instant, when two miles north of Huntingdon,tho luggage on the Toof of a carriage^ in the centre o£ tho train having become ignited. The carriage contained five ladies, one of whom had the presence of mind to call to the passengers in. the next compartment !to pass on the intelligence, by which means the driver's attention was soon i aroused and the jtrain speedily stopped, "befdre'mnch damage was done. It api pears that this particular train was fitted with an apparatus for communicating with the guard, but it was placed down so low in the carriage as to be virtually undiscoverable. • "'.' " ,, r I The Queen left Lucerne on the 9th inst. , arrriving in England on the 11th. On the 14th, she left for Balmoral, where she is now staying. The '* British Medical Journal "- say» : — "The health of, the " Queen has, we hope, received some benefit from the change of air and scene, and rest from her onerous public duties ; but while her Majesty will continue, as heretofore, to repfilate public business^ the Queen will not, we fear, be abL^Fcear the- fatiguing ekfeftetnenfc of TsPTaH^hened residence in London, and of the continued receptions attendant on such , stances." - — — i The Revising Barristers are now hold-.

their courts' 44 over' M^&t&tly, ancf much dissatisfaction" is caused* Ijy. their coni^ictqry,4pcisioiw.jQfjC(mr / s A 9 & allthe proceedings are open tb* correction m the Codhpaf Common plea^,-hut the elections wttWlow too closely' to, allh* of [that being of any service at present. Tile; question of female" stiffrage is' qiiite undecided ; some of the barristers have admitte4,their, votes when no opposition has been made ; others decline to l liste"nM;orany argument on the subject; and the barrister at Leeds, in dismissing the claim of a Quaker lady, Mrs. Howell, after making a very ingenious and irritating speech, chose to consider the claim as ' frivolous, and sentenced her to pay ten shillings costs, which is generally considered absurd and oppressive.