OUR HOME LETTER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 56, 6 March 1869, Page 4

OUR HOME LETTER.

o HLondW, 31st Dec, 1868. A change of Ministry has occurred. This, of course, was., expected p r bu£, certainly, not so soon. On thVlst instant Mr. Disraeli had an interview j with Her "and 'tqlideredT.his resignation, l which" was accepted; and the Queen has entrusted- Mr. Glad-, stone with the Administration. Mr.Disraeli has published an address to his. parliament&ry su'jiporters^ explaining his reasons for this step. He admits that the result of the general election, which gives a Liberal majority of 115, has made it clear that the present administration cannot eipect*to command the confidence of the newlyelected House V>f and therefore Her Majesty's Ministers have felt it due to their honour and to the policy .they supporr,not to retainoffice unnecessarily for a single day; but they remain convinced that the proposition of Mi*. Gladstone is wrong in principle, probably impracticable " in conduct; and, if practicable, would be disastrous in its effects. While ready at all times to «;ive a fair consideration and willing aid to any plan for the improvement of the Church in Ireland— to the policy which they opposed last session, rife, as they believe it to be, with many calamities ' to society and the State — they will continue in whatever position they occupy to offer an uncompromising resistance. The' news of the accession of the Liberal party to power has given very great satisfaction in Ireland, where hitherto the people have not seemed to take much interest in what happened here. As this chauge was rtfthor unexpected, a great deal of work has been thrown on Mr. Gladstone in the formation of a new Ministry. The appointments were, however, speedily made, and the following is the result : — First Lord of tae Treasury, Eight Hon. W. E. Gladstone ; Chancellor of the Exchequer, Eight Hon. B. Lowe ; Third ;Lord of the Treasury, Mr. Stansfield-; . Joint Secretaries of the Treasury, Mr., G-. Glyn and Mr. Ayrton; Junior"Eo*rd of the Treasury, Mr. Adam ; Secretary of State "for Home Department,' Eight Hon. H. A. Bruce ; Secretary of. State for Foreign Department, Earl' of Clarendon ; Secretary of State for Colonial Department, Earl G-ranville;* Secretary of State for War, Eight Hon. E. Cardwell; Secretary of State for India, Duke of Argyll ; Vice-President of the Council, Eight Hon. W. E. Forster ; Under Secretary for Home Department, Mr. Knatchbull-Huges-sen ; Under Secretary for Foreign Department, Mr. Qtway; Under Secretary for Colonial Department, Eight Hon. W. JTonsell; Under Secretary for "War, Lord NVi abrook ; Uuder Secretary ft,; 1 IjiJia, Mi- (xrant Duff; 'Chief Secretary " for I-eland, Eight Hon. Chichester Fortescuc; First Lord of the AcUniraity, Eight Hon. H. C. Childers; Secretary to the Admiralty, Mr., Whitbread; ,Lo"d liijjii Chancellor, Lord Hatherley W. Page Wood ; Lord Chancellor of Ire-" land, Mr. Justice O'Hagan ; AttorneyOeneral, Sir E. Collier; SolicitorGeneral, Mr. Coleridge; Attorney General for Ireland, Mr. Sullivan; Solicitor-General -for Ireland, Sergt. Barry; Lord- Advocate of Scotland, Eight Hon. J. Moncreiff; SolicitorGeneral for Scotland, Mr. G. Young ; Lord President of the Council, Earl de Grey; Lord Privy Seal, Earl of Kimberley; Lord-Lieutenant of Ire-, land, Earl Spencer ; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Lord Dufferin, with a- seat as a Privy Councillor ; Commissioner of Works and Buildings,Eight Hon. A. HTLayard; President of the Board of Trade, Eight Hon. John Bright ; Secretary to the Board of_Trade, Mr. _G._ J.JShaw. Lsfevre^ Postmaster-General, Marquis. of Hart-, iiigton ; President of the Poor-Law Board, Eiglit Hon. "J. G. Goschen ; Judge Advocate-General, Sir Column TMC. O'Loghlen Bart; Lord Great Chamberlain, Lord Willoughby D'Eresby; Lord Chamberlain of the Household, Viscount Sydney; LordSteward of the Household, the Eari of Bessborough ; Master of "theTßLorse, Marquis of Ailesbury ; Master of the Buckhounds, Earl of Cork ; Mistress of the Eobes, Duchess of Argyll Parliament was opened on t^ejlQtfy by Eoyal Commission. As an. inevitable result of the change* of ' Government, noneof the iTinisfers who hold places in'&e^House'of Conimons were pf!Pßßntraffi;ln^-had"-;to. be Te-elected. The" prbreediiigß tvere'extreniely simp^. the members being told, to elect a Speaker, and! be" sworn in; on the completion of which, the cause of their being called together would be declared to them. Oh the return of the members to the- { House of Commons, MJCJlpiaiEvelyn, .Djenisoja __was_ußanipapusly elected Speaker : and on the following day he was presented to the Eoyal Commissioners, and approved of | by them. On the 15th $he Members ' of the House of" C6mm6ns were again summoned to the bar:of.the -House, of Lords, and informed that all that' was at present required of them was to issue writs for the^lection of members o¥the new Government, and that after a suitable, recess the,Lßgislatiire woulcl learn what' their business for the sespion proper would bo. On the return of the Commons, Mr. Ayrton, as Secretary for tbe -Treasury, moved for fie. write for the election of some of the; members of ihe Gavernniant, and tfre Hpu&e ; j|;!ien .aujourned^tojo^ : 29tb,, when it ajaii} met to Authorise the

Speaker td issue the remaining election writs.. This business.took only twentyfiyfe mjnutjßs, ( and,tbe.Hpbse'< then adjourned till the 16th February — the House of Lords being adjourned till -the llth T FeJ)ruaiy. - ; -^ The hew Ministry is lookedLftpon as being Very strong, and the party is more^-united than ever . ifc has -b^een frefbre.* fiotable feature is'' Mr. Bright's acceptance of office. He was \ offered >t¥e. position of Secretary of State for India, but declined, as* he .considered his views with regard to India were not suitable to the present 'time, and his peculiar ideas with regard to military affairs would interfere with his management of such a department. -He therefore said he would accept the position of President of the Board of Trader in which he " could do no harm, and might do some good." Sir "Wm. Page Wood, the now Lord Chancellor, takes his seat as Lord Hatherly of Down Hatherly, in the County of Gloucester ; and Mr. John Duke Coleridge, the new Solicitor-G-eneral, hasr received the 'honour of knighthood. Over sixty election petitions have been presented, and will . shortly come on for trial. Nearly the whole of these are against borough elections, and so much intimidation has been practised that doubtless the vote by ballot will soon be legalised. This month will long be remembered for the fearful weather which we have had. " The gales have been tremendous — the force of the wind exceeding anything yet recorded, and the disasters both on sea and land are-very numerous. Among the shipwrecks some will long be remembered. Tiie Hibernia, a large steamer plying between New York and Glasgow, was' lost in consequence of an accident to the machinery, by which she became unmanageable and sinking. • 133 persons were on board, and these were embarked in. five boats. The mate's boat, containing thirty-three persons, | was capsized soon after leaving the I -vessel ;' the captain's and boatswain's boat, containing fifty-three, were picked up by the Star of Hope ; another boat reached the north-west •corner of Ireland, after sailing 700 .miles, with only three left out of the twenty -eight with whom she started ; and the other boat- has not been heard of. Another steamer, the Starry Banner, of 2,000 tons burden, which left Southampton for New York on the 18th, was lost on the night of the 21st. Some of the crew and passengers managed to save themselves by rafts, on which they were for two days and three nights without food or water, during which time several died from exposure, and others jumped into the sea. The crew and passengers numbered 164, and of these 122 were lost. Every vessel that has crossed the Atlantic has experienced unusually severe veather, and the Eddystone Lighthouse. has been unapproachable now for eight weeks. * The Thames embankment has been very severely j damaged — a long wall of piles having been smashed through by' the force o" the water, and the work that was being carried on inside them being thereby rendered useless. The new harbour works at Wick Have been almost entirely destroyed— about 250 feet of sea wall built this season being carried away, and damage done to au amount of probably more than £20.000. The Valley of the Thames about Windsor and Eton is completely under water, and in the Midland Counties great tracts of land are submerged. , Other shipwrecks have occurred in which the recent severe weather has not played an important part. The ship' Australian has been lost off the coast" of Brazil. She sailed from Sydney for London, and had £12,300 in gold, and a cargo of cotton, wool, and tobacco. The crew and passengers, numbering twenty-four, and the specie, were saved. The packet ship, Isaac , Webb, from Liverpool to New York, was nearly lost off Sandy Hook, New York, on the'' l7th November. She had on board 354 passengers. Severe storms were met with" all the way out ; and at the end of ths first week the captain was killed by a heavy block falling on his head from aloft. Five of the passengers -actually died of I hunger during th<£ voyage. The I G-bssamer, ; a clipper- ship bound to , Adelaide from London, was unfortunately lost in J;he Channel at Prawle .Point, between tke~Bill of Portland [and the Lizard,; in 'consequence of the vessel keeping too , riear m sHore. , Thirty persbns^were ,&*• board, out of whom thirteen perished. A verdict of manslaughter- has Been returned against the pilot who" was in charge of the ship;EaUnray accidents are still occurring. One collision has. .occurred on the Midland. EaUway, .by which about foFfcy;persons wereinjured.* -Two collisions on the London and NorthWestern .yßailway, • injuring several persons ; and aP- explosion of naptha, by which two guards we're killed. An accid.ent^wiich". might -have proved very disastrous, -occurred on one of the Welsh lines . on- Christmas Day. Tidrtpeii^cgajUladen trucks were lofc on a siding wheue therejvas an incline of one in forty, without Bufficieufc break-power, .and they consequently be.^an moving, continuing witli increased velocity a-jowipy of seven or eight miles*.' "An officer at a stuti >n seeing t'lem ap^maoh, and kncnv.'n - tSatsometbingjnusfc bo w.*ong, dirrei-? 1 tbein-into a. goods p';ies, thrqucfi which 'they' dashed," destroying- in'4eh "Valuable

property, but no doubt saving many lives, as if they had not been thus intercepted they would have run on until they came into collision with a train from Cardiff. Two more colliery explosions have occurred, both in the' neighbourhood of Wigan. By the first seven men wore killed, and several severely injured ; and by the second twenty-four killed and four injured. A gunpowder ex- ; plosion fccok place at Farersham, Kent, at the works of Messrs. Hall and Sou. Nine men were injured, one of whom has. since died. Sir Richard Mayne, the Chief Commissioner of Police for the metropolis, died on the 20th, having recently undergone two operation, which produced an exhaustion of the system, from which he could not rally. He has held his office since the first establishment of the force in 1829 ; and although it would have beeu better for his own repute had he retired some time since, yet he has worked hard during his lifetime, and certainly until within the last year or so kept the force in a state of efficiency. The appointment of his successor rests with the Home Secretary ; and as public attention has lately been drawn to the unsatisfactory state of the police service, considerable interest in the subject is manifested. Madame Rachel has been released on bail, pending the decision of the Quen's Bench on a writ of error. The writ has been issued solely on account of certain legal technicalities not having been complied with, and has nothing whatever to do with the justice of the sentence. The Countess of Derwcntwater is now preparing for a new trial in London to set aside the decision of the magistrates of Hexham as to "her ladyship being an obstruction on the highway. Mr. Peabody has announced his iutention of bestowing a further sura of one hundred thousand pounds on the poor of London, making a grand total of £350,000. The remainder of the stud of the late Marquis of Hastings has been disposed of. ''Equerry" fetched 90 guineas, "Lady Elizabeth" GOO guineas, and the "Duke" 2200 guineas. A very crowded and stormy meeting of the members of the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge took plaee^on the Bth, at the Freemason's Tavern, to determine the mode in which a grant of £2000 made to Natal should be expended, but really to determine whether the Society should openly take part in the ecclesiastical squabble now going on in that colony by supporting the bishop recently sent out to carry on war against Bishop Colenso. It was finally decided that the Society should not interfere, but that the £2000 should be expended by the Standing Committee. The appeal from the Arches Court as to the ritualistic practices at St. Alban's has been heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Couucil, and their judgment was delivered on the 23rd instant. It may be as well to recapitulate the charges brought against Mr. Mackonochie in the Arches Court. They were for the following offences against the ecclesiastical laws: — 1. Elevation of the paten and cup, and kneeling ; 2. Using lighted caudles ; 3. Usinjc incense ; and 4. Mixing water witn the wine in the solemnization of the Holy Communion. In the Arche3 Court the judge sustained the third and fourth of these charges, and against this part of the decree there was no appeal. As regards the first charge, Mr. Machonocne pleaded that he had discontinued the practice, and he was therefore admonished not to return, to it; but the judge held that if any error had been committed as to kneeling, it should not be made the subject of a criminal prosecution, but should be referred to the Bishop for the exorcise of his discretion. From this latter part Mr. Martin, the prosecutor in the case, appealed, and he also complained in his appeal that the defendant was not ordered to pay the costs of the suit. Tlie judgment glvou by the Committee was to the effect that no deviation from the rubric could be allowed ; that kneeling where it was not mentioned was not allowable .; that candles wore also against the law and must not be used. In fact, all the charges were sustained,, and the order for costs was made. No formal notice in respect to this decision has yet been served on x Mr. Mackonochie, nor will it be until the judgment of the Committee has been confirmed by the Queen iu' Council. It is of course a great blow to the Ritualistic party, but it is satisfactory to have at last got a clear decision as to what is actually allowable in the service of the Church. . The Bank of England rate of discount was raised on the 3rd instant to three per cent., in consequence of the increased demand for money. On the 22nd, at IS© Tbilh* ChatJbera. in the wiadin^up of the K<-w Zsalanl Banking Corporation, mi application was nvvdc by Mr. Jain\w Coopor, tae oTi/ixl liquidator, for the sanction of M-\ Hawking, the chief ! clerk, to pay toe creditors in full an 1 to proven*: a, \r>nr. litigation. The official liquil it or -jal piii f,e craiifco.'s 7n 41 in tie pounl. M\ CI. A. I-Ivi-Icy oroiVrM an an\in e.n\nt iopiy 3-.\U, r\\\ !1\ C'ic\)or pvovnei p'\>mH:wT nitoH >'v t")c nvnc of t'i? Oor.irvtfiim to ;v,7 f\r> iviiv.in )*r at :>i\. rw,;iyr, fin 1 r I/] teen ~wm '3, wu-V ' would prevail' a lonj liiL^V.ua. T^u

chief clerk thought it a practical proposal on the creditors assenting, and the matter stood over until after the holidays. " ' Tho Eastern question has again turned up, but this time in a more serious manner. Tbe agitation which prevailed in Eonmania has subsided, a new Ministry having been appointed. Turkey has now determined no longer to brook the insolence of Greece, who has been supporfczng^the insurrection in Crete in every possible way, and accordingly sent an ultimatum to the Greek Government, declaring that unless positive explanations were given with respect to the past and re-assu-ring guarantees for the future, Turkey would suspend all commercial and diplomatic relations with Greece, and recall her minister from the court of Athens. This was rejected by the Greek Government, when instructions were at once issued fo close every Turkish port to tlie Greek flag, and to expel all Hellenic subjects within a brief period. This was, however, deferred for a time on representations being made to the Turkish Government by the European Powers ; and now, after a most threatening appearance of war, a conference of the European Powers is to be held at Paris early next month on the subject. Turkey has only consented to join the conference on the condition that nothing is discussed except the points of the ultimatum, and this ' has been agreed to. There is no doubt that every exertion will be used to preserve peace, for the br raking out of a war between Turkey and Greece would probably lead to a general continental outbreak. The Provisional Government of Spain has issued a decree, ordering the general elections to take place on the 15th January and following day, and the Constituent Cortes to meet on tho Uth of February. A very serious insurrection took place at Cadiz, the insurgents taking possession of the town and holding the foreign consuls as hostages. Several lives were lost, but ultimately a very energetic proclamation issued by the General sent against them by the Provisional Government induced them to lay down their arms. The Duke de Montpensier informed the Government that on being apprised of the events at Cadiz, he had left Lisbon to oifer his sword to the Provisional Government. The Government, in. reply, expi*esaed respect for the intentions of His Royal Higness, but requested him. to return immediately to Lisbon. The insuiTection in Cuba still continues, and appears to gather strength. A large force is, however, about to be despatched from Spain to quell it.