(OUR HOME LETTER.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 68, 29 May 1869, Page 6

(OUR HOME LETTER.

(From our Oion Correspondent.) London, March 18, 1869. The great Irish Church question was ■formally opened on the Ist instant. Mr. G-ladstone rose at five e' clock to move " That the House go into committee to consider the Acts relating to the Established Church of Ireland, the grant to Maynooth,- and the first resolution came to by the House last year." On the House going into comjinittee, he again rose, and began in quiet, almost gentle, tones, which he preserved all through his speech, which was a model of clear and pashionless exposition, and in which; as Mr. Dis•g^aeli afterwards remarked, not a phrase t'Jtoo much had been used. It was "'-woundup by the finest and most impressive peroration he had ever pronounced. He stated, in commencing, that his address would be ,based on three fundamental points of time : firstly, the passing of the Act and its immediate effects ;'," secondly, that it -would come into operation on the Ist .January, 1871 ; and thirdly, the moment when the winding up of the Establishment would be completed, and nothing remain to be done but the adpropriation of the property of the Irish Church. It regard to the imtne.diate effect, he said that the present Ecclesiastial Commission would be put an end to, and a new Commission appointed for ten years, in which all the property of the Church would be invested, subject to life interests. No new interests are to be created ; but spiritual appointments may be made without giving any interest in the the Church freeholds. Bishops may •be appointed, but only by the prayer ,of the Episcopal body itself in reference to particular individuals ; but the rights of thetPeerage would not follow such consecrations; in fact, Irish bishops are no longer to sit in the House of Lords. All tqis is to be in lieu of the Suspensory Bill of last year. Next, all existing disabilities of the Church are to be removed, so that it may constitute itself a voluntary disestablished Church ; and the bishops, cleJgy and laity are to create for themselves a governing body. On the Ist January, 1871, the union between*the .Churches of England and Ireland is to be dissolved, and the latter cease to be jestablished by law, its Ecclesiastical Courts to be abolished, all its ecclesiastical jurisdiction to cease, and all its corporations to disappea-r. There •would be a technical disestablishment by the passing of the Act, and a technical disendowment afterwards. In -the^period following, the details would bS^P^anged, and would relate to the vested interests of bishops and incumbents, curates, lay officers of the Church, adyowsons, gleb.es, graveyards, the College of Maynooth, the tithe commutation rent charge, and the sale of Church lands. It generally and appeared that the purpose of the'nieasure in regard to vested interests is, that the amount of incomes shall be ascertained and paid to the incumbents so long as they perform duty ; or the income may be commuted into an annuity for life— and both these are to be done under the direction of their own governing body. The tithe commutation rent charge will vest immediately in commissioners under the Act. In regard to curates, if permanent ones, they will have an adequate commutation of their curacies for life ; * while more transitory ones will receive gratuities. In regard to private endowments, there will be a limitation in their date, the Restoration in 1680 being chosen as the start-ing-point. These, too, will be made the subject of compensation, and allowance will be made for, keeping up such national ecclesiastical monuments &S St, Patrick's Cathedral, when the fabrics of the churches are handed over, as they will be, to the governing body of the disestablished Church ; while some will be placed in the Board of Works, to bo kept up. The glebe houses will be handed over to the new Church, and the land about them may be bought by the G-overning body. AH the existing rights of burial grounds will be maintained, and they will be placed in charge of the Board of Ghiardians for general use. In recurring to the subject of the grant to grant to Maynooth, Mr. G-ladstone declined to enter into, theological controversies, and emphatically declared that he would deal impartially with all grants, whether to Presbyterians or Roman Catholics. The life interest of the clergy of the former in the Regium Donum will be maintained and subject to commutation, as well as those of professors of the theological colleges of that sect. He did not now make .make any proposal with regard to Trinity College, Dublin, but he said most significantly that the time of the reformation of that institution would ceme ere long ; and then went on to declare that the principle on which he was about to act was that all of these endowments, indifferently and indiscriminately, should cease and determine ; that life-interests would be yalued and commuted at fourteen years' purchase ; so that finally and for ever all connection between these institutions and the State would be closed. The tithe rent charge would be vested in the commission under the Act, and be offered to the landowners at twenty-two and a half years' purchase. This would be done subject to a very complicated financial arrangement, as he said, and the explanation of which amused the House much ; for,

so far as thepropOsal could be understood, it is that any buyer would be accommodated -with a loan on easy terms, to be paid off in forty-five years, with which to pay for the purchase. In regard to the sale of Church Lands, there would be a right to pre-emption in the tenants, who would be allowed to let three-fourths of the money remain a charge on the land, to be liquidated by instalments running over twenty-two years. Turning to the financial part of the subject, Mr. Crladstone said that the income of the Irish Church had been variously calculated at £616,000 and £839,000 a year ; but he put it at about £700,000. This was derived from tithe rent charge, which gave nine millions ; lands of all kinds, six and a quarter millions ; and there was a sum in money of about three quarters of a million, making a total capital of £16,000,000. By the proposals of the. Bill the charges on this would be, for^ life interests of bishops and incumbents, £4,900,000 ; for curates, £800,000 ; the lay compensation to parish clerks, sextons^ cathedral and ecclesiastical officers, £900,000, of which £3J}0,000 would be for advowsons 5 "fSrivate endowments, £500,000 ; building charges on glebe houses, £250,Q00 ; Maynooth College and Presbyterian compensations, £1,100,000, of which the latter would have twothirds, and the former one-third, with compensation for buildings ; the commission under the Act would cost £2000,000, and the whole charge would be £8,659,000, leaving a surplus of between seven and eight millions. The House waited with intense interest for the disclosure of the mode in which this surplus was to be disposed of, and there was loud applause when he emphatically announced that it would be appropriated ±o Irish purposes, but not to ecclesiastical purposes. Finally, he declared, amid the evident interest and satisfaction of the audience, that it was proposed to aid the county cess in Ireland in reference to the support of lunatic asylums, county infirmaries, institutions for the deaf and dumb and blind and idiots, and the training of nurses, and for reformatories and industrial schools ; and he happily remarked that in thus appropriating the funds of the Church, it was not purely secularising them, but was, in a manner, a return to the ancient use of part of all ecclesiastical property. For all this, the charges would be £311,000 a year. The speech lasted nearly three hours and a half, and the conclusion was loudly cheered.

Mr. Disraeli followed with most bland and courteous observations, declaring that, though his feeliug in regard to the Irish Church was unchanged, he acknowledged that it was due to Mr. Gladstone that he should have full opportunity of developing his policy in the Irish question to a new Parliament. He hoped, however, that three weeks would be given before the second reading was brought on. To this, however, Mr. Gladstone did not consent, but fixed upon this evening, the 18th, for that stage of the Bill.

The Navy Estimates were moved on the Bth instant. The saving to be effected during the present year will be about L 1,100,000. Several alterations have been made, of which the following have occurred in the constitution of the Admiralty: — Formerly, the Board consisted of four Naval lords, a First secretary, and a comptroller. There are now three Naval lords, the first having the conduct of the personnel, the second that of the materiel of the Navy, while the third, in conjunction with the civil lord, perforcns the duties of the former comptroller (which office is now abolished), and attends to the dockyards. The once seventeen superior officers of the Board are now reduced to thirteen, causing a saying of $821,000 a year, although some small additions have been made to the salaries of two of the Naval lords. As regards reduction of clerks, though a saving of £14,000 a year would be effected by the proximate dismissal of some of them, it extends only to those who had no work to do; while those who have served six years will receive compensation, and all will be placed on a redundant list for reappointment in cases of vacancy. Woolwich and Deptford Dockyards are to be closed in October, and the established men will be transferred to other yards.

The Army Estimates have also been moved, and. show a reduction of £1,196,500,

The Home Secretary introduced a Bill for uniformity of assessment of rateable property in the metropolis ; and another providing for a common basis of government and local taxation and uniformity of assessment all over the Kingdom. A hew Bill on bankruptcy has been brought in by the Attorney- Greneral, which is based on the Scottish system. Although the Queen was not sufficiently strong to bear the fatigue of opening Parliament, she was very desirous to meet the members, and it was therefore agreed that the Address in reply to the Royal Speech should be presented to Her Majesty by the whole of the members of both Houses, the Queen having stated her intention to come to London for the purpose on Monday, the 22nd February. On the previous Friday, however, Prince Leopold was attacked by a return of the internal hemorrhage which on a previous occasion assumed so severe a form, and as the Queen was therefore unable to leave Qsborne for some

days, the address was presented in the usual way.

The trial of election petitions still continues. At Cashel both the sitting members and the petitioner have been declared guilty of bribery. Major Kno-x has been unseated at Sligo ; Mr. Sei'jeant Cox at Taunton ; Sir Henry Edwards and Mr. Kennedy at Beverly ; Mr. Clivc and Mr. Wyllie at Hereford; and both the members at Blackburn. In several places the petitioners have failed to substantiate their charges, and many of the petitions hare been withdrawn before the enquiry commenced. Sir Sydney Waterlow has been unseated for Dumfriesbire, the firm in -which he was a partner being G-overnmcnt contractors at the time of his election.

The Marquis of Hartington has been elected a member for the Radnorshire Boroughs, from the representation of which Mr. Gfreen Price retired in his favour. Baron Rothschild has been elected as the fourth member for the City of London, in the place of the late Mr. Bell ; and Mr. Miall, the wellknown Nonconformist writer, has been elected for Bradford, in the room of Mr Ripley, who was unseated on petition.

One more item of Parliamentary news. Another small sum of £3,(^00,000 for the Abyssinian expedition had to be voted the other night, the late Gi-o-vernment having made some error in their calculations.

The next important topic to the Irish Church question — in fact, for a day or two a more important one has been the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, which took place on the 17th, about four o'clock. It was an exceedingly well-contested struggle, but the Oxford crew were again victorious, winning by about five or six lengths. At first starting, the Oxford boat took the lead, but in half a dozen strokes Cambridge got ahead, and kept in advance for the first twelve minutes, but from this time the Oxford men, who were pulling at the rate of thirty-nine sti'okes per minute, were well ahead. The duration of the race was 20min. G^sec, being by several seconds the quickest University race on record. The Cambridge crew have been placed in a disadvantageous position, in consequence of one of their men having, on the 13th, been compelled to give up from a severe attack of bronchitis. His place was at once taken by Mr. J. Still, one of the most experienced University oarsmen, but who, of course, was not in actual training. The assemblage of people was greater than on any previous occasion, the hour of the day being so favourable. While on the subject of races, I may mention that the two fastest vessels of the Cunard and Inman lines, the City of Paris and the Russia, have had a race across the Atlantic, from New York to Queenstown. Both vessels left New York on the 10th February, and the City of Paris reached Queenstown at five o'clock on the morning of the 19th, the Russia steaming up in an hour and a half afterwards. Both these vessels are Clyde built. Of course, such a race is very exciting to the captains and crews, and perhaps to the passengers on board, but there is too much risk attending it to make it justifiable, the number of accidents that have occurred on the American rivers through wanton trials of speed pointing a moral which should not be overlooked.

In Ireland, unfortunately, agrarian outrages still occur, landlords and bailiffs being shot on what in tin's country would be considered frivolous pretexts. The Irish peasant, however, seems by nature disposed to brood over a -wrong till it assumes unreal proportions, a peculiarity of temperament which renders it most difficult to legislate for such a people.

The Government have decided to release forty-nine of the lonian prisoners now undergoing penal servitude in Australia and Great Britain, the selection made being the hot-headed, the dupes, and other more or less foolish persons who of themselves were incapable of doing further mischief; while the leaders and those who were the originators and real mischief-makers — thirty-two in number — will have to serve their full term. An attempt was made to collect subscriptions for them yesterday (St. Patrick's Day) at * the different churches,, but Cardinal Cullen, when the the proposal was made known to him, denounced it with energy and vigor, and in every place except Cork it has been a failure.

Mr. Edwin "Watkin Edwards, the Official Assignee of the Court of Bankruptcy who created ro much excitement and indignation by his disclosures in the ca a e of * Overend, G-urney and Co., has been dismissed from his office by order of the Lord Chancellor, in consequence of the " deliberate violation of the rules under which he held office," it being expressly provided that no official assignee shall engage in any employment other than that of the office, . either directly or indirectly. Mr. Edwards stated that all his extra work was done after office hours, but in that case he must have been a tremendous worker, as in the Joint Stock Companies' Directory of 1866 he appears as a member of the following Boards : — Crystal Palace and South London Junction Railway ; London,. Chatham, and Dover Eailway ; London, Windsor, and Greenwich Hotels Eailway; Enamelled Iron Company ; Metropolitan Extension Railway ; Greneral Irrigation and Water Supply Company of France.

The capitation grant to the Volunteers has been the subject of great discussion lately. A deputation representing the Scottish Volunteers, waited on the Secretary of State for War, to bring before him the necessity for an increase of the grant. The whole subject of the Reserve Forces, of which the Volunteers form a most important part, is to bo considered shortly ; and the Secretary could only, therefore, promise to give the matter his attention. The Easter-Monday Review is this year to be held at Dover.

The examination of the three directors of the Merchants Company for issuing a delusive prospecius, and thereby inducing persons to become shareholders, has been twice adjourned since my last letter, and now stands over till the 10th of April, to allow cf the examination of the books. The case against the two directors for issuing a circular containing false statements has been completed, and the defendants committed for trial; but on the opening of the Session, the counsel for the prosecution applied that the case should proceed no further, as there were really no grounds to expect a conviction ; and this was at once granted.

The cotton trade has for some time past been in a very depressed condition — some of the mills being closed, and others working on short time, with a large portion of machinery entirely stopped. At Cver-Darwen, m Lancashire, seven large firms, having in all twenty-three mills, have just resolved to work upon the average three days per week in spinning and weaving. At other places there is a disposition to reduce the wages of the operatives, which is met by threats of strike. Tn the East End of London, too, the distress still continues ; and the East End Emigration and Relief Fund, which was started to send out families to Canada and elsewhere, and to help workmen in their removal from London to other places in the Kingdom, where they have been offered employment, has now been merged into anew association, called the British and Colonial Emigration Fund, of which the Lord Mayor is president. Should any of your readers desire to help this movement, they can send subscriptions to Mr. J. Standish Haly, Hon. Secretary tcv the British and Colonial Emigration Fund, 15, Cockspur-street, London, S.W.

The groat convent case, Saurin v. Star and Kennedy, was at length decided on the 26th February— the twentieth day on which the court had sat. The summing-up of the Lord Chief Justice occupied six hours and a half, and was a splendid effort of intellectual ability; but an objection has been made that it partook more of the advocate than of the judge, being a decided, reply to the' speech of 'the Solicitor- Greneral. The questions on which the jury had to deliberate wei'e practically reduced to four— assault, imprisonment, libel, and conspiracy. The two first were dismissed by the judge, on the plea that if the offences had been committed, they had been committed with Miss Saurin's consent — the real grievance of which she complained being her dismissal from the convent ; and the main issue befoi'e the jury was whether this end had been compassed by wilful libel and conspiracy. The jury deliberated for two hours, and then found for the defendants, on the pleas of assault and imprisonment; but for the plaintiff, on the charge of libel and conspiracy, with £500 damages. The notorious Madame Rachel has again been a proininent person in the eyes of the public. Two or three applications have recently been made at the police courts with reference to a charge of perjury which she sought to establish against her late attorney, Mr. Haynes. Lately, however, notices bavo appeared of the sale of her effects, and her bail becoming alarmed at this, concluding that she was about to fly from the country, managed after some difficulty to secure her, and brought up before the judge in Chambers today. After some trouble in the way of making affidavits, &c, Madame Rachel was again sent back to Newgate, where she will remain until she can either procure fresh bail, or the point of error which her counsel raised has been decided.

Two serious accidents have occurred this month. On the 10th a fearful explosion of naptha took place at the woi-ks of Messrs. Demath and Co., Oldbury, Birmingham. Two men were burned to death, and four were very seriously injured, two of whom have smico died. ' Then, on the 11th, an explosion occurred in the lead-room of the shell foundry at Woolwich. Three men were engaged in dipping obsolete Armstrong shells into a caul° dron of boiling lead to melt off the lead with which the shells are encased, when one of the shells which, by some unfortunate oversight, had not been emptied of its contents, exploded and scattered the boiling lead over tta men who were seriously "injured.

Another dreadful accident occurred in the Adriatic sea — the Austrian frigate Radetziki having been blown up hetween the islands of Lissa and Lesina, in the Adriatic. Three hundred lives were lost, and only twenty saved.

We have again visited with an earthquake — a shock having been felt in Manchester and throughout East Lancashire as far as Blackburn, on the evening of the 15th instant. The first

shock was felt at six minutes past six and was followed by several undulating movements. Very great alarm was created in some places, but no damage Avas done. I haA'e already told you of the reduction that is being made in the number of the clerks belonging to the A dmiralty. It is evident that the new First Lord is determined to have real work done, as he has issued a minute ordering that all officers shall be found punctually at their posts at ten o'clock every morning. Two of these officials have been under examination at Bowstreet, on the charge of conspiracy io defraud, having endeavoured to obtain money from a large timber merchant for procuring for him a contract for timber, and they have been committed for trial. The matter is considered a most important one by the Admiralty, and there is grave reason to suppose that very extensive corruption occurs Avith reference to contracts.

Mr. Beales has resigned his post of President of the Reform League, and Mr. George Howell that of Secretary ; in fact the League may now be considered broken up. A few of themembers, however, are endeavouring to get up a meeting for Good Friday, in Trafalgar Square, "To commemorate the memory of Ernest Jones. Should there be no interference, it is possible that the whole affair may simply turn out a ridiculous failure : but there is some probability of the police interfering, which wonld be a sad mistake.

From Canada we learn "Whelan, tho murderer of Mr. Thomas D'Arcy M'Gee, was executed on the morning of the 11th February, in the town of Ottawa, Canada. An enormous crowd witnessed the execution, and precautions were taken to prevent an attempt at rescue, which it was anticipated would be made ; but the crowd dispersed quietly.

Yice-Chanccllor Mallins has, on the petition of a auditor, ordered that the Panama, New Zealand, and Australian Eoyal Mail Company should be wound up compulsorily. In the matter of the New Zealand Banking Company a very good arrangement has been come to. The liquidator had already paid 6s. Bd. in the pound, and Mr. H. A. Hankey, who had been connected with the bank, guaranteed 6s. Bd. During January, the official liquidator applied to the Master of the Eolls for permission to give the creditors promissory notes for 6s. in the pound, and obtained permission to carry this into effect. The creditors will therefore ultimately be paid in full. On the sth February a meeting of the shareholders of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company (Limited), was held, and the report agreed to. It states that the net profit for the year has amounted to £12,775 7s. 9d., and declares a dividend of ten per cent., adding £5,000 to reserve fund, and carrying forward a balance of £1,281 os. lid.

The obituary since last mail includes the names of M. de Lamartine, the veteran poet, statesman, and historian of France ; M. Troplong, the President of the French Senate ; Field-Marshal Viscount Gough, one of our most distinguished Peninsular heroes, also well known as the destroyer of the Sikh power in India and chief of the expeditionary force sent to China in 1841 ; and Lord Glasgow, celebrated for his long connection with the turf, and his unblemished integrity of character.

From France there is but very little to record. The difficulty with Belgium respecting the Railway Bill is not finally settled, but the irritation is rapidly subsiding, and the negotiations which are in progress will effectually remove any ill feeling. . The Spanish Cortes passed a resolution on the 25th February thanking the Provisional Government, and charging Marshal Serrano with the formation of a new Cabinet, which is, in fact, tho same as the old one, all the members retaining their places. It is understood that the draft of the Constitution will propose to establish complete civil liberty and freedom of worship, but will retain the Eouian Catholic faith as the religion of the State. .On the 16th instant, General Prim declared, in reply to a question, that the monarchical party were prepared Avith a candidate for the throne, and that his name would be made known when the proper moment should arrive. Senor Olozaga, the first Secretary of the Government, has been killed in a duel. Disturbances are still rife, but will not be allowed to rise to a great pitch. The insurrection in Cuba is still unsuppressed ; and a resolution has been introduced into the Senate of the United States, authorising the President to recognise the independence of that island, which has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The questions which arose between Turkey and Greece have all been settled, and the measures adopted by the Sultan against Greek subjects and shipping have been abandoned. Thus the Eastern questiou is again disposed of for a time.

A creditor, whom he was anxious to avoid, met Sheridan coming out of Pall Mall. There was no possibility of avoiding him, but Sheridan did not lose his presence of mind. " That's a beautiful mare you are on," said he. "Do you think so V — " Yes, indeed— How does she trot 1" The creditor, highly flattered, put her into full trot. Sheridan bolted round the corner, and was out of sight in a moment.