THE OCTOBER MAIL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 7, Issue 376, 7 January 1864, Page 4

THE OCTOBER MAIL.

[from our own correspondent.] London, 26th Octobei', 1863. The intelligence received here by last mail of the doings of those scamps the Maories has created a good deal of excitement, aud roused the Government to the necessity of sending ample military reinforcements to you. The 55th and 76th were under orders to go to New Zealand direct, but are now to proceed to India to relieve two regiments (the 50th and 68th), which will be sent to New Zealand by way of a sanitary change from the East indies, which means, 1 suppose, that the bracing occupation of hunting down the natives will prove an excellent tonic for the constitutions that have become enervated by a long l-esidence in the simmering atmosphere of Calcutta. A battalion of the military tiain kralso under orders from this, two additional batteries Armstrong field guns, and an addition to the Commissariat Staff coi’ps. The first and second battalions of the 11th and 12th regts. have also been placed under notice for the same destination. The rumour too is revived of Sikh regiments being ordered from India, and the Indian authorities think no more effective force could be sent. If the Maories are to be treated as the unfortunate Arab tribes of Algiers used to be in the days of butcher i’elissicr, now Duke of Ma-

lakhoff, perhaps better agents than Sikhs could not be'selected. Pellissier, then Colonel in the French service, used to say, after a more than usually successful act of extermination, such as the smoking out; of a whole tribe iu the caverns of Dehra, as if they had been so much vermin, that they had been joliment nettoyes —“prettily cleaned out.” Now if several Sikh regiments are sent to New Zealand with general instructions to hunt down and root out the whole Maori race, they will do it. They will follow the scent with unerring. sureness and unflinching pertinacity, even as ferrets hunt out London house rats from their noisome recesses, if I may be pardoned a not very savoury comparison. I suppose however it will come to such a process in the long run. There is a general impatience of these Maori wars here, and a feeling that the race must now lie so thoroughly crushed as to give no further trouble.

Our home news contains sbme interesting items. The Queen, who has been at Balmoral all the autumn, has, to the great joy of her subjects, made a public appearance on an occasion of ceremony, and the granite city of Aberdeen is the favoured spot. A statue, by Baron Marochetti, to the late Prince Consort was to be erected, and on the inauguration being decided her Majesty announced her intention to be present. The event came off with great eclat though with nothing like noisy demonstrations of welcome The Queen requested that the arrangements should involve as little display or unnecessary publicity to herself as possible, and this was carefully attended to. She was accompanied by the Prince and Princess of Prussia, the Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse, Prince Alfred, and all her children in fact except the Prince and I‘rincess of Wales, who had gone to London to meet the King of the Greeks. An immense multitude witnessed the ceremony of unveiling the statue, but there was no cheering ; the spectators simply removed their hats and stood uncovered while she passed. The Provost read an address, to which the Queen returned the following reply : “ Your loyal and affectionate address has deeply touched me, and I thank you for it from my heart. it is with feelings I should vainly seek words to express that I determined to attend here to-day to witness the uncovering of the statue which will record to future times the love and respect of the people in this county and city for my great and beloved husband ; but I eoulcl not reconcile it to myself to remain at Balmoral while such a tribute was beiug paid to his memory without making an exertion to assure you personally of the deep and heartfelt sense I entertain of your kindness and affection, and at the same time to proclaim in public the unbounded reverence and admiration, the devoted love that fills my heart for him whose loss must throw a lasting gloom over all my futm*e life. Never can I forget the circumstances to which you so feelingly allude, that it was in this city he delivered his remarkable address to the British Association only four years ago, and that in this county we had for so many years been in the habit of spending some of the happiest days of our lives.” After the address and reply the Queen was pleased to confer the honor of knighthood upon the Lord Provost, and henceforth Sir Alexander Anderson. It is needless to add that such language and such an honour conferred on

their chief magistrate mightily pleased the Aberdouians and North Britons generally, who are already sufficiently elated by the undisguised preference shown by all the Boyal Family for the misty North. The new King of the Greeks arrived here about a fortnight ago on his way to his adopted country, and resided at Marlborough House with the Prince of Wales. He received deputations from the Greeks resident in England, who showed a good deal of enthusiasm, which however was slightly damped by the brevity of the replies he made to the loyal addresses presented to him. His Majesty never got farther than the stereotyped answer, “ I am much obliged to you,” excusing himself from saying more on the ground that he had not yet mastered modern Greek. He went from this to Paris, where he remained some days on a visit to the Emperor, and thence travelled to Toulon, whence a convoy of men of war of different nations will escort him to Greece.

Prince Alfred is living at Holyrood Palace, and studying at Edinburgh University. He attended most of the sittings of the Social Science Congress there, which met under the presidency of Lord Brougham, and concluded its course with unusual eclat. The Prince went about in kilts, which article of clothing, or rather unclothing, is getting more the rage than ever in royal circles. One of our papei's here announced rather authoritatively some time ago the intended marriage of the Princess Helena, the Queen’s third daughter, to the Prince of Orange. This I believe to be a mistake, the intended bride being the Princess Frederica of Hanover. A somewhat strange accident has happened to the Princess Louis of Hesse, or rather to her infant child. It has been discovered that the child has a deformity, or rather malformation, of a peculiar kind—one of its hands is withered. This is ascribed to the accident which so alarmed the Princess when in the Isle of \V ight about two months before her accouchement. She was thrown out of a waggonette or phaeton, and though uninjured was no doubt much frightened. It was feared at'the time the after results might be injurious to her child, if not to and so it has turned out.

As anticipated in my last, Archbishop Whately, of Dublin, died on the Bth inst. About a week after Lord Lyndhurst

died. Thus .two eminent men, foremost in their own though widely different spheres, have disappeared from the scene. Archbishop Whately was 77, Lord Lyndhurst 91. The archbishop was a man against whom scandal never raised her voice, and who was as remarkable for purity of life as for intellectual grasp. Lord Lyudhurst—on the authority of his parish clergymau, i*ector of St. George’s, Hanover-square—is vouched to have died the happy death of a humble Christian, but his life was that of a thorough man of the world and ardent lover of its pleasures. Like a good many other emineub lawyers, he liked good living, and always had a keen eye for a handsome woman. His title dies with him, as he left no son, and the retiring pension he had as exLord Chancellor reverts to the Treasury. Several elections have occurred this month of interest. A vacancy occurred lor Tamworth by the elevation of Lord Raynham to the peerage, aud two candidates were started, one on the Liberal side, a Mr. Cowper, a connection of Lord Palmerston, the other on the Conservative, Mr. John Peel. The latter is a distant connection of Sir Robert Peel, the other member for the borough. Sir Robert warmly espoused the cause of Mr. Cowper as the cause of the Government, and of course came into collision with his kinsman This was not the worst. Sir Robert held large property in the town, and his officious interference on behalf of Mr. Cowper gave rise to a rumour that ho was exercising undue influence over his tenantry. This made him very indignant, and lie lost his temper on several occasions to an undignified extent, having on the pofliug day actually a personal fight with one of the electors, ending in blows. To fcrown all Mr. Cowper was defeated, and Sir Robert had the mortification of discovering that all the trouble he had taken and the personal humiliation he went through mainly contributed to that defeat. His conduct was condemned by the journals of all shades of opinion, and it was said he would in consequence resign his post as Irish Secretary, but lie has not yet done so. The other election was for Coventry, a successor to the late Mr. Ellice Coventry is a large manufacturing town, and has always returned Liberal members to Parliament by a large majority. On this occasion the Liberal Candidate was a Mr. Arthur Peel, a younger brother of Sir Robert, aud the Conservatives started a Mr. Morgan Trelierne, who had at previous elections unsuccessfully contested in their behalf, Mr. Eaton, the London silk-broker, who first started, retiring in his favour. Mr. Trelierne is a Tory of the old school, and In ordinary circumstances would have stood no chance ; but the Coventry silk-weavers happen to be indignant at the present Government for passing the French commercial treaty, which has ruined the Coventry ribbon trade. Mr. Trelierne, too, was widely known and a mob’fatfourito. The result was, that the Tory was elected by a large majority. This astounding resuit looked even more remarkable when one considered who the fortunate candidate was. Mr. Trehe rue was not merely a Tory of the old school, but lie was a Tory of the Colonel Sibtliorp school, aud his advent to the House of Commons bids fair to revive those exhibitions of blunt and eccentric buffoonery which it was supposed had gone out with the lamented Colonel. Mr. Treherne told the electors in one of his speeches that he was a 'lory and nothing else, that he hated Whiggvry as lie hated the very devil, that he had a parrot at home which was taught to say “ D—n the Whigs,’’— that for his part he quite agreed with the sentiment though he would not express himself in that language perhaps. Aud this bluff old Tory was carried to the head of the poll amid a tumult of popular enthusiasm ! Who can say any more that a I’ory is as extinct as the Dodo 1 It is unnecessary to add that we look forward to the appearance of this very outspoken gentleman in the Mouse of Commons with much interest. The result of these two elections has therefore been a loss of two votes to the Government. They have since however recovered one by the gain of an election at Barnstaple, where the Liberal candidate was returned by a small majority, succeed ing a Conservative, the late Mr. Potts. For Windsor also a vacancy has just occurred by the death of Mr. G. M. Mope, a Conservative, and here the Liberals stand a fair chance of gaining a seat. Still the general result of the-vacancies which have occurred is decidedly against tlie Government.

A very unusual event disturbed the tenor of our ways on the 6th of this month—neither more or less than an earthquake. It was felt over nearly the whole of England, but scarcely at all in Scotland or Ireland, and was most violent in the Midland districts about Staffordshire. At some places there was merely a slight oscillation felt, at others a rumbling noise as of heavy waggons passing along the street ; at one place, Hereford, the nervous excitement of the natives made them term the noise ‘'awful” and at auother a highly imaginative policeman making his rounds declared he saw a steam rise from the earth just when the rocking was greatest. Mr. Charles Dickens wrote to the Times from his country house near Rochester, saying that he awoke from his sleep about three o’clock, feeling the bed shaking, and he describes the sensation as being just as if a great beast had been sleeping under the bed, and had roused aud was shaking itself. The hour |at which it occurred however, three in the morning, when all decent folks were in bed, was necessarily unfavourable to a very wide observation while it made it seem more alarming to those who happened to observe it. Of course we are overwhelmed with scientific opinions on the subject and sage speculations as to the future. We are

Holloway's Pills. —Nervousness and want of energy.—When first the nerves feel unstrung, and listlessness supplants energy, it is the right; time to take some alterative, as Holloway’s Pills, to prevent disorder running into disease. These excellent Pills correct all irregularities and weaknesses. They act so kindly yet so energetically, on the functions of digestion and assimilation, that the whole body is revived, the blood is rendered richer and purer, the museles become firmer and stronger, and the nervous and absorbent systems are invigorated. These Pill 3 are suitable for all classes and all ages. They have a most marvellous effect on persons who are “ out of condition they soon rectify whatever is in fault, restore strength to the body and confidence to the mind.

now told by wbay of Britain stands on a volcanic zoUflma direct line between Mount Hecla in Iceland and the Lipari Islands in the Mediterranean, Mount Etna and Vesuvius being offshoots and active outlets from which are discharged the fiery elements fermenting in the earth’s centre. Without attempting to forecast the future, it is however sufficiently alarming to know that a little additional disturbance would have shaken down our houses by the'hundred, as if they had been so many children’s castles of cards. Continental matters remain pretty much in statu quo. The 1 } Polish insurrection drags its slow length along, and that

length is getting less every week. The Russian forces are gradually crushing out the small bauds of insurgents, and witli winter the last of them will probably disappear*. The “National Government,” as the’secret rebel administration is styled still however rules with almost absolute power, levies money and issues edicts, and defies the utmost efforts of the Russians either to discover its members and agents or to arrest their pr*oceedJngs. One of these modes of proceedings is still, lam sorry to say, assassination. Scarce a day passes without some Russian spy or policeman poniarded by some instrument of the Secret Administration, and be generally escapes. Attempts have also been made on the life of General Connt Berg, the Russian Governor, by means of Orsini bombs, and though unsuccessful as yet, they have roused the Russians to fury and to sweeping retaliation. The palace of Count Zatuoyski from which one of those bombs was sup-' posed to be thrown, was immediately taken possession of by the military, all the inmates ejected, and the furniture destroyed or plundered. A large hotel the Hotel de I’ Europe, in which an individual named Bertholdi was one morning stabbed by a secret agent of the rebel leaders on suspicion of being a Russian spy, was treated in the same way, and then turned into a barrack. So the frightful work goes on, tyrany on one side met by assassinations on the other, and the feeling of vindicative hatred growing day ,by day. All hopes of an Em-opean intervention have nearly ceased. England and Austria will not go to war for Poland, and France cannot. As regards the intentions ot Louis Napoleon great doubt and unca finest prevail, but the French chambers open on the stli November, and a public declaration on the subject is then looked for. The deputation from Mexico charged to offer the Imperial crown to the Archduke M aximilian of Austria was received by him at his castle of Miramar near Frieste with great cordiality* and state. The reply he returned was nominally an acceptance, but hampered by certain conditions such as guarantees which it will be almost impossible to grant. The Archduke wants to be satisfied that the Mexicans are unanimous in his favour, and it may be managed to bring about this unanimity or a good imitation of it, by a p’cbiscite or popular vote given under* the direction of the French army of occupation. But a guarantee is quite a different thing. Great Britain of course will give none and France will certainly not go far in this direction either, perhaps not even to the length of guaranteeing a Mexican loan. It is however strongly suspected here that the Archduke is a mere catspaw of the French Emperor in the matter, that the offer of the crown is only a blind to deceive Europe, and that the result aimed at is not his acceptance but his declinature of the offer, so that Mexico may then to avoid anarchy fall back on French rule and become a dependency of France, to be governed by a French prince or General in the capacity of Viceroy. The Mexican expedition has however cost France so much moaey that a new loan is said to be urgent to retrieve French finances, and the amount spoken of is twenty millions sterling. The prospect of this loan and a continuous drain of specie has produced a heavy fall on the Paris Bourse and sympathetic dullness here. There has been a rise m the discount rate by the Bank of France and one is looked for* here at any early date.

Business otherwise is brisk. The cotton market is in a state of excitement. The next wool sales commence on the sth November, -54580 Bales are forward of which nearly 15,000 are New Zealand. Prices promise to be good unless the money market gets suddenly tight. The Princess of Wales is to be confined in March next, if all goes 'well. The pi’oposed appointment of Canon Stanley, (the same who accompanied the Prince of Wales to the Holy Land) as Archbishop of Dublin has created great dissatisfaction among the Irish clergy.