Untitled

West Coast Times, Issue 289, 27 August 1866, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE ENGLISH MAIL.

THE WAR IN EUROPE.— THE

FIRST BATTLE.

(from the times, june 25).

The telegrams from Italy are tinged with blood. The main army of the Italians, consisting of ten divisions, under the immediate orders of the ' King and La Marmora, which had moved its head quarters from Piacenza to Cremona on the 20th, appeared on Saturday before the Mincio, and crossed the river at Goito, a place illustrated by two brilliant feats of arms under Charles Albert in 1848. From Goito they advanced upon Roverbella, a village four miles to the east of Goito, on the railway line between Mantua and Verona, five miles to the north of the former and eighteen to the. south-west of the latter fortress. They seem soon to have fallen in with their enemy, as at two o'clock of the same Saturday afternoon an Austrian brigade is described as retiring in good order before an overwhelming force of Italian cavalry, and seeking shelter under the cannon of Verona. That same afternoon the Italians pushed forward their reconnoitring parties on both banks of the Mincio towards Peschiera, but had to retire before a brisk cannonade from the outworks of the fortress.

Close upon these movements, which were evidently mere reconnoissances, there ensued yesterday morning a general battle between the two armies, in which both wings of the Italians seem to have given way. The intelligence comes from Verona. It does not mention the scene of the conflict, and the very last words of the bulletin, up to two o'clock p.m., describe the battle as still raging. Yesterday, it will be remembered, was the anniversary of the battle of Solferino, and it is by no means improbable that before sunset the Austrians had achieved the defeat of the Italian army, and tempered by a fresh triumph the bitter recollection of their former reverse. It must be borne in mind, however, that at Solferino the Austrians deemed themselves the victors up to a late hour of the day, and it may have happened now, as it did then, that the news they sent home of their apparent success in the morning had to be contradicted by the final issue of" the battle.

There is little doubt that Cialdini's movement across the Po must have been simultaneous with the King's passage of the Mincio. Cialdini, with an army of 60,000 men, had advanced to Ferrara, and was on Saturday to cross the great river either at Ppnte Lagoscuro or a little further to the east, at Polesella. From the,, left bank of the stream at the latter place to Rovigo and Monseliee there is only a day's march. It is difficult to say what obstacle the Austrians might raise against his progress, either by disputing the passage of the river or by laying the whole of that low ground of Polesine under water, as in ordinary circumstances they nave it in their power to do. It is said that the waters of the Po are uncommonly low for this time of the year. Were Cialdini allowed to hurry across the swampy region unmolested he would soon be able either to join his King under the walls of Verona, if the King's losses were not altogether irretrievable, or to direct his attacks against Padua and Venice, if the main army could held its ground unsupported under the walls of the Quadrilateral.

The intelligence we have received up to the last moment although unfavorable to the fortunes of the Italian army, is as yet too vague and incomplete to enable us to form any estimate of the probable issue of the campaign. But there seems little doubt that in thenplan of operations the leaders of the Italian army have consulted rather their patriotic ardour than the sound dictates of strategic discretion. Garibaldi, who had led his volunteer bands from Como to Lecco, and was reported as advancing upon the Lake of Garda, appears by later accounts to have steamed up the Lake from Lecco to Colcio, and hence, marching along the whole Valtellina, to have crossed the Stelvio, reached Glurns, and pushed forward his outposts to Finslermunz. His intention is said to be to force his way through the Tyrol to Munich. We have no hesitation in describing all this intelligence, which reaches us from Switzerland, as simply fabulous- The Austrians were till lately in possession of the heights of the Stelvio, and even had Garibaldi's progress been unopposed, no seven-leagued boots could nave carried him over so much ground in four days.

(PEOM THE TIMES, JUSE 26.)

The defeat of the Italian army in front of Verona was even more complete than the first Austrian telegrams had led us to apprehend. We have now the bulletins of both parties, and they agree on all essential points. JVfeagre and vague as telegraphic brevity and technical reserve necessarily make them, these despatches reflect great honor on the truthfulness, moderation, and dignity of the belligerents on either side. There is no paltry attempt on the part of the Italians to disguise or palliate the magnitude of their disaster, no unseemly exultation on the part of the Austrians, not one word of disparagement of the foe. By being just and even generous towards one another, these combatants seem to act upon that wise maxim which teaches us to deal with enemies as with men who may at some future period become friends.

The Italian Army, divided into three corps and a reserve — making up a force of from 80,000 to 90,000 combatantsafter crossing the Mincio at Goito and other points on Saturday afternoon, and

sending reconnoitring parties towards Peschiera and Verona, encamped for the night at some place beyond Roverbella, equidistant from the two fortresses, On the ensuing morning an attempt was made upon those high positions of Sona, Soraraa Campagna, and Santa Giustinn, which command the fifteen miles' railway line joining the two strongholds, positions which played a conspicuous part in the campaign of 1848. The Object of the Italians was evidently to take possession of the railway so as to isolate Peschiera and secure a basis of operations against Verona. The Austrians, however, who were massed in great force at Verona, sallied forth from the place at daybreak, and, anticipating the Italian movements", took up their position upon those hills, which are now everywhere bristling with bastions and redoubts, and may be looked upon as mere outworks of the two citadels, extending from the gates of one to those of the other. After a severe and bloody, or, as the Italians describe it, " desperate" struggle, which lasted nearly the whole day — that longest of summer days — the Imperial army was victorious along the whole line. They stormed the summit of Montevento, where the Italians held out the longest, and at the close of the engagement, at five o'clock in the afternoon, they also carried the position of Custozza, a spot fatal to Italian arms in their encounter with Eadetzki in July, 1848. The victors captured several guns and about 2,000 prisoners, and behaved, as the Archduke Albert's bulletin assures us, and as we may readily believe, with even more than their ordinary bravery and endurance. On the same evening the Italian army was obliged to recross the Mincio.

The Italian accounts of the engagement present no points of material difference. According to them, the First Army Corps was sent forward to occupy some positions between Peschiera and Verona, but being surrounded by superior forces, it " failed to effect its purpose," and the description given of its losses in the contest, leaves us little doubt that it was all but annihilated. The Second and Third Corps, unable — it is not very clear for what reason — to advance to its rescue, were still in the evening " almost intact." It was also stated from Brescia that the army had maintained its position ; but there is little doubt that it had to withdraw across the Mincio later in the night. The Italians had several of their generals wounded, among others the King's second son, Prince Amadeus, who has arrived at Brescia*

The Italians, we are assured, behaved with great heroism, and no doubt, although, they lost the day,, they came off without loss of honor. An advance across the Mincio, right into the heart of the Quadrilateral, is an enterprise which no other European army would, under such circumstances, have ventured upon ; but a frenzy to do some« thing seems to have possessed the whole Italian nation, and the men in command could think of nothing better than dashing their heads against those formidable stone walls. There may be bravery in so desperate an attempt to take the bull by the horns, but we believe it would be impossible for the King or La Marmora to say what results they expected from their ill-conceived and worse executed attempt. It was a battle in which they staked the very existence of their army, while their enemies in the worst event ran no other risk than that of a safe and leisurely retreat behind the shelter of their bastions. The least that may be said of it is that, like the Balaklava charge, " C'etait beazi, mats cc vHetait pas la guerre." Ever since 1848 and 1849, the Austrians have strained every nerve to strengthen those four citadels, and have extended their outworks so that the line between Peschiera and Verona especially is a vast intrenched camp. There is eve^ probability, also, that the Italians were on this occasion outnumbered by their enemies ; for the Austrians have from 200,000 to 250,000 men in Venetia, and as they had in their hands that most formidable of all engines of modern warfare, the railway, they had probably massed three-fourths at least of their troops in Verona, ready for the longexpected Italian inroad. The Archduke's bulletins, in fact, never speak of garrisons, but tell us that " the Imperial army" was in the field.

The King of Italy has fallen back behind the Mincio, where he is not likely to be pursued ; but neither, perhaps, will the condition of his shattered army enable him to resume the offensive for some time to come. We have Austrian official assurance that Cialdini crossed the Po at Polesella on the 23rd. The tidings of the King's retreat, however, ought to disconcert all the plans " of the commander of the Fourth Corps, as he would at Padua, or anywhere else on the line between Verona and Venice, fall in with forces with which his 60,000 men would be unable to contend. The Italian fleet, we learn from Florence, steamed from Taranto on the 23rd ; but, if its destination be Venice, Persano is not likely to find any one to co-operate with, him on the mainland The failure of the King on the Mincio will probably break down the whole enterprise.

But, although the Italians met with so severe a rebuke at the very outset, they will find that they have not fought in vaitf. The mere consciousness that they have taken the field unsupported, and have fought not ingloriously, and against terrible odds, will end by inspiring them with confidence for the future, and raise them in their own and the world's estimation. No doubt it would have been better for them, it would have been more conducive to their internal prosperity, if they could have pursued

a peaceful policy, and placed themselves in a position to purchase from Austria with gold that province which they will hardly ever wrest from her with iron. Had a price been put on the ransom of their Venetian brethren it would certainly have been cheap 1 1 the cost of every penny in Italian purses, or even of every masterpiece in Italian galleries ; but as it was to bo otherwise, it may be as well, perhaps, that the Italians should have gone through this baptism of blood. The issue of the war in Germany and the force of European public opinion may work out in behalf of Venice that liberation which, as it would seem, cannot bo effected by Italian arms after seven years' warlike preparations. It must go hard with the Italians if, whether in defeat or victory, they do not find a way where they have shown so strong a will.

THE FENIANS IN AMERICA.

(from the correspondent of the

TIMES.) New V ork, June 1 6, evening. The fury of the Fenians against the President since the issue of the proclamation is almost indescribable. He is the general subject of denunciation in all the public-houaes, at the street corners, and all other places where Fenians most do congregate. Some meetings have been held in which the speakers have loaded him with Billingsgate, calling him a " dirty tool of the British." Moreover, the persons who have been arrested generally declared that " their duty to Ireland is with them the first consideration, and seem to expect that American laws should not be allowed to stand in the way of their, performing it." If I may judge from what I hear on every side, the patience of the American population is fast wearing out, and if Irishmen here cannot be got to mend their ways, and lead sober, ordorly, and industrious lives like the rest of the population, we shall see them before very long as much boiling over against the American Saxon, as previously against the British Saxon. I have on various occasions, in touching on the condition of the Irish here, spoken of the rapidly increasing dislike and distrust with which the native Americans were beginning to regard them. I see and hear every day fresh indications of the" growth of this feeling. Even Mr Boutwell, of Massachusetts, one of the most liberal of Northern politicians, has warned the Irish in a speech delivered the other day, that they need expect no sympathy from Americans in their struggles for liberty, until they give better proofs than they have yet afforded of their knowledge of what liberty means. But nothing that is said in public gives one an idea of the hatred which is growing up in private of everything Irish. The turbulence, the insolence, the shiftlessness, the self-assertion, the political corruption of the Irish, is making almost every decent man and woman in the country their enemy. Expressions of this hostility now and then find a place in the newspapers, although editors are, as a general rule, very careful here about saying anything that seems likely to encourage class feuds or distinctions. The New York " Times" speaks out more clearly than any other journal what the mass of its readers are feeling, and its utterances just now are the more significant, owing to wellknown relations of its editor to the Admin istration .

It says this morning :—: — THE ARROGANCE AND PRESUMPTION

OF THE LEADERS.

If anything were wanting to justify the proclamation of the President for the arrest and suppression of the Irish raid upon Canada, it would be found in the Court and Cooper Institute proceedings of last Thursday. Here we have a pai-ty, in the very heart of the great city of 'New York, defying our laws, refusing to submit to the proceedings of the Federal judiciary to punish their Head Centres," and haranguing their ignorant and infatuated followers at the Cooper Institute, where the very name of the President is hissed, and the performance of his highest official duty openly denounced as the work of " a dirty tool of the British Government." Mr Roberts said, when brought before the United States Commissioner, that he " certainly would not give bonds to keep the peace to restrain me from the repetition or continuance of any act which I feel to be my duty as an Irishman. I have persons here who would be my bail."

At the Cooper Institute, a Mr Gibbons was introduced "as the VicePresident of the Irish Republic, to apologise for the absence of Mr Roberts." General Sweeney, he announced, was also a prisoner to the United States ; and he added, " I take his^ place." He then continued:— " Sir Frederick Bruce prostrated himself at the feet of President Johnson, and asked him to protect the British Government from the Fenians. (Laughter and approval.) I never thought Audrew Johnson would become a dirty tool of the British Government, but I have been mistaken. The men in the United States uniform to-day arc doing the work of English detectives. What is our capital ? We have a capital unsurpassed by that of any race of men that God ever made, and that is our own right arm. (Cheers.) We have five millions of our race on this continent who are fightine men." 8 S

Again, we have in the report of this meeting :—": — " AMr McClellan then addressed the audience in very eloquent terms upon the ingratitude of the United States Government in not only refusing aid, but in using such stren-

uous opposition to the cause of Ireland, whose sons, on every field of the late war from Bull Run to Richmond, had upheld the flag, and vindicated the honor of the country." < It is difficult to comment with patience upon such superlative specimens of assurance, accustomed as we have long been, in this city, to that quality, and from the same quarter — in the shape of blustering, bullying, and burning. The animus of the July riots appears in every line of the above extracts. The spirit that demands the right to involve this country in the wild and wicked raids of Irish Fenianism, to openly violate its neutrality, and defy its laws, is only equalled by the insults heaped directly and personally upon the President of the United States, and through his administration upon our whole people. These things may possibly be endured for a season longer, but if they are not in the sequel indignantly resented by our own countrymen, and severely punished by the public authorities, we very much mistake the self-respect of the first, and overrate the force and determination of the latter.

Mr Roberts forsooth cannot give bail for his good behaviour to the United i States of America, because he has a higher " duty as an Irishman," in the open violation of our neutrality laws, and the impudent and notorious abuse of our hospitality. Mf Gibbons goes beyond this, and claims the right to call President Johnson " a dirty tool ;" as well he might, after the very mention of the President's name had been received with taunts and hisses by the crowd.to whom he was addressing his blatant treason and blackguard defamation. And to crown the meeting with an uproarious adjournment, Mr M'Clellan arraigns the whole Government — President, Cabinet, Congress and the army — for ingratitude to Ireland, in that we refuse to turn raiders and landpirates, and foolhardy adventurers, when her sons had upheld our flag from Bull Run to Richmond in the late war ! This declaration was only wanting — and especially the reference to Bull Run, where it is of record that at least one I regiment demanded to be mustered out of their ninety days' service the day before the battle, and actually countermarched "to the music of the enemy's cannon" — to complete this latest picture of Fenian assurance.

The latest news from the " army" is not favorable to the Fenian cause. General Sparr is said to be entrenched at St. Armand, with a superior force of British Regulars moving on his position. Half of his forces are, moreover, described as being " beastly drunk," and all of them demoralised. The " Herald" imparts the information in the following despatch :—: —

Right Wing of the Fenian Army, Camp Sweeney, Canada, June 8. Trouble is brewing at this place among the men calling themselves soldiers of the army of Ireland. At the present moment fifty good cavalrymen could put the whole camp to rout. The entire force does not now number over 1000 men, and more than one half of that number are beastly drunk. The cause of the difficulty is owing to the present disorganised state of the force and the Mck of sufficient discipline. The officers are unable to enforce the necessary and proper respect, and the men cannot be brought under necessary subjection to form any military organisation in the United States on account of the neutrality laws.

General Spear crossed over the border with nothing more nor less than a mob of desperadoes, some of whom were armed, but by far the largest portion of them were not. It cannot be denied that the officers and some of the men came from purely patriotic motives, but many of them crossed to Canada solely for the purpose of plundering. Lawless depredations commenced almost immediately after crossing into Canada. The men started off singly and in fours and fives, on independent marauding expeditions, their officers being utterly powerless to prevent it, and there is no calculating the amount of mischief that has been committed. These acts have been severely condemned by one and all of the officers, and they now threaten to visit the next offence with condign punishment. The officers have taken all the liquor that could be found in camp, and have spilled it out upon the ground.

The road between here and St. Albans, a distance of eighteen miles, is filled with deserters, and these are the very men who boasted loudest and did the most talking. These sort of men were the first to desert the cause, and by their language and actions have set a bad example to those remaining, which cannot be easily remedied. Desertions have taken place by whole companies, and in some instances colonels have led their command back again over the border. General Spear met a company on their way to Vermont, and tried to induce them to remain until morning, but they told him to go to hell, and continued on their way homeward. The only reason why a detachment was not ordered out to shoot them down was because they had not yet been sworn into the service of the " Irish Republic/ 7

The report of the trouble at camp Sweeney reached bt. Albans this afternoon, and two mounted couriers have just arrived from General Sweeney with despatches. A council of war has just been held by General Spear and the commanding officers, and they determined to maintain themselves as longas possible where they now are, if they can advance no further into the interior. General Spear says that they may drive them off of Canadian soil, but it shall never be said that he turned

round and walked deliberately back again into Vermont, Most of the officers will stand by General Spear in in this emergency. Unless the Fenians in the large cities send supplies and ammunition immediately, there will be a useless loss of many lives. As I close, quiet and order have been somewhat restored, but there is still a large amount of indiscriminate firing by the men, who fire at anything they see in the shape of horses, cows, pigs, and poultry.

MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCESS

MARY OF CAMBRIDGE.

On the morning of June 12th, the Princess Mary of Cambridge was married at the parish church of Kew to his Serene Highness Franz Louis Paul von Teck, The Queen and almost every other member of the Royal Family were present. The church was crowded with ladies of the haute monde, the representatives of our noblest families, and many personages of world-wide celebrity. Her Majesty was dressed in deep mourning, with a Mary Stuart cap under a black bonnet. The ladies in attendance on the Queen Avere also in mourning, though of not so deep a character as that of Her Majesty. When the service had ended, the bride advanced with a quick step to the Queen, by whom she was affectionately kissed. The Princess also kissed the Princesses and her brother, and the Prince of Wales. Prince Teck also kissed the Queen on the cheek ; and after other salutations, having bowed to her bridesmaids, the newly-wedded Princess took the arm of her husband and returned down the centre of the church, acknowledging the bows of the company. ' The Queen, leaning on the arm of the Duke of Cambridge, had preceded the bridal pair. The Princess Helena was escorted out by her brother, the Prince of Wales.

The illustrious party returned to Cambridge Cottage, and the register having been brought from the church, it was signed in the drawing-room. After a most superb dejeuner the happy pair took their departure for Ashbridge Park, near Berkhamstead, the seat of Earl Brownlow, the fair bride being smothered with a cloud of white slippers thrown after the departing carriage for luck. Great festivities out of doors marked the popularity of her royal highness at Kew, and a grand display of fireworks in the evening brought the rejoicings to a brilliant close.

The Princess Mary of Cambridge does not forfeit by her marriage the name by which she is so well known. She does not become her " Serene Highness Princess of Teck," which in point of rank implies an inferior social position to that which she has hitherto enjoyed as a princess of the Royal Family of Great Britain.

Experiments have been made to test the efficacy of Captain Cowper Coles' turrets, which have proved most satisfactory in their favor, The trial took place off the east end of the Isle of Wight, in the presence of the Lords of the Admiralty, Prince de Joinville, the Count de Paris, many English officers of distinction, and scientific men. There were four steel bolt shots fired, each weighing 2501 b, from the 12J-ton guns mounted in the central battery of the Bellerophon, which" was moored 150 yards from the Royal Sovereign. The first shot was aimed at a canvas target placed above the after turret, by way of experiment, for the purpose of elevation. Part of this target was carried away The first shot at the turret struck near the port hole, and did considerable damage. The second penetrated the plate at the weather side of the turret, and the third, directed at the deck, struck the turret on the port bow, did little damage, glanced off, and fell close to a yacht some distance off. The result was, that the turret itself was left intact, and was not in any way disabled, but worked easity, although several plates about it were displaced. Considering the calibre of the gun, the weight 'of the shot, and also the insufficient thickness of the turret plate, Captain Coles was congratulated on having achieved a signal success.

The Queen would have been deposed the other day, and a Queen called Lavinia, or her heir, would have been set on the throne of these realms, if only a law court could have made up its mind that a certain claim was valid. We have heard for years of a certain Mrs Ry yes, who alleges that she is the grand-child of a Duke of Cumberland, brother to George the Third, by a lady secretly married to him before the marriage of which we have all heard, to Mrs Horton. Not only this, but Mrs Ryves alleges that George the Third himself was clandestinely wedded, by the father of her great grand-father, to a Quakeress, Hannah Lightfoot, so that poor Queen Charlotte was no wife at all, and of. course her descendants are unlawful. I merely glance at the curious case, which will be found in detail in another column, and it will well repay perusal. The extraordinary documents brought in aid of t lie claim are only equalled in curiosity by the extraordinary fact that not only the poor bewildered claimant, but many other persons, believe that there is ' som ething in the affair." It is proper to add that the whole of these documents hare been impounded. I looked into Horace Walpole to she whether that omniscient gossip ever heard anything in the least like the story, but he has not a word, though he has plenty about Mis Horton, and her prettiness, and her "amorous eyes and eyelashes a yard long." This marriage, and that of the Duke of Gloucester to Horace's niece, occasioned the Royal Marriage Act.

It is proposed to raise a fund of LoOjOOO, of which already L 20,000 has been promised, to found a college in memory of Mr Keble, the author of " The Christian Year," in which young men now debarred from university education may be trained in simple and religious habits, and in strict fidelity to the Church of England, in the hope that it may lead to promote the supply of candidates fov holy orders.

THE MINISTERIAL CRISIS IN ENGLAND.

(FROM THE ARGUS CORRESPONDENT.)

At the moment of writing, the whole machinery of Government is stricken with paralysis, and the public business of the country is suspended. The Administration ha 1 -, as was- generally expected, wrecked itself on the rocks of Reform, and will in all probability go to pieces. Rarely has it fallen to the lot of a Ministry to be so persistently harassed with a series of discreditable surprises, dodges, stratagems, and artifices, with the view of getting rid of the question of reform, and with it also the unfortunate authors of the defeated bill. Factious obsfcructiveness was never, perhaps, carried to more disreputable lengths than in the reform struggle of the present session. The legitimate Opposition has scarcely once shown its front boldly and honestly. The war has been one of feints, ambushes, masked batteries, and flank attacks. The wounds received by Government have nearly all been inflicted by the hands of false friends — those of their own political household. Men denounced as renegades from the Liberal ranks have as cats- paws to the Tories, who have rewarded their welcome allies with smiles and cheers. In the few instances in which a definite and straightforward issue has been raised, the Government have beaten their opponents ; but, on the whole, it has been contrary to the Fabian tactics and tortuous policy of the Conservatives and their new adherents of the " cave" to risk a battle on any vital principle of the bill. The final defeat of Government was sustained on the question whether a "rating" or "rental' 1 qualification, apart altogether from the amount of either, should be adopted as the basis of the borough franchise. The former, proposed^ by Lord Dunkellin, an Irish Liberal, was endorsed by the House of Commons, by a majority of eleven, on Tuesday morning last. The excitement on the occasion was tremendous. While the aspect and mien of the Tory leaders on the announcement of their illtimed victory were serious and anxious, the exultation of the rank-and-file of the part}' was vehement and extravagant in the extreme. On the following evening, the 20th, the House was crowded at an early hour, to hear from Mr Gladstone what course the Government proposed to take in consequence of their defeat. The announcement was both brief and guardedly worded. Owing to the very inconvenient absence of the Court at Balmoral, Ministers were obliged to communicate the result of their deliberations to Her Majesty by special messenger, and get the Sovereign's reply before tairing any open step. Mr Gladstone, therefore, could only inform his eager auditors that the Ministry had found it to be their duty, iv consequence of the adverse vote of the House, and the debates and divisions which had preceded that vote, to " make a communication to Her Majesty," which involved the lapse of some little time. The House was accordingly adjourned till last night — Monday, the In spite of this reticence, however, it quickly transpired that Ministers had tendered their resignation. Regret at such a course is deep and almost universal. The advent of a Tovy party to power at a crisis so' momentous is viewed with -undisguised alarm, and the- fear is openly expressed that they will embroil us in a Continental war. The popular solution or. the difficulties of the situation is, a dissolution of Parliament, and appeal to the country for its verdict on the question of Reform or No Reform. The ultimate determination of Ministers will be given below. Meanwhile, I will furnish a very rapid sketch of the vicissitudes of the reform debate since the departure of the May mail.

THE REFORM. CAMPAIGN.

On the evening of Monday,- the 28th ult., the battle was resumed, the afternoon having been spent by the greater part of the Opposition members in consultation a3 to the best means of defeating the Government bill. They adjourned in a body from Salisbury House to the Palace of Westminster, to carry out Mr Disraeli's system of tactics. Ministers early put themselves right with the House by accepting Mr Bouverie's proposal to amalgamate the bills, and refer them to the same committee. In the proper course of things, Captain Hayter's amendment, condemning the redistribution scheme as neither " convenient nor equitable," should then bare come on; but, pertinacious obstruction being the recognised policy, advantage was taken of the notices of motion — and there were above sixty on the minute book — to impede the progress of the reform measure at every step. Now, Sir R. Knightly had proposed an " instruction" to the committee to incorporate with the bill some provisions for the better prevention of bribery and corruption at elections ; and this was seized upon as a good rallying-point for the hostility of the Opposition. A short, sharp, exciting debate followed, and a division, in which Government were defeated by a majority of ten. Part of the Adullamites voted for the motion, and some of them, auch as Lord Grosvenor and his brother, went into the lobby with'the Government. Mr Gladstone, bowing to the decision of the House in its noble zeal for purity, promised to co-operate in the object proposed ; and took the opportunity of again repeating the determination of the Cabinet to press the bill through during the present session, or perish in the attempt. Way was thus made for Captain Hayter's amendment, which was aimed at the very principle of the Seats Bill. The subject was introduced in a speech opposed to the grouping of boroughs, and after an able reply by the Solicitor-General, the debate was adjourned till Thursday, the 31at ult. But "no rest — smiting hip and thigh," was the mot d' order. Accordingly, on the two intermediate days the harras3ing assaults were to be unintermittingly continued. On Tuesday the bribery question came up again, on the proposal by Mr 11. Vivian of a practical scheme for the disfranchisement of the acceptor of a bribe and the prosecution of the bribing member. Beyond the waste of time, no object was gained. On Wednesday, reform again; this time, Mr Clay taking the initiative with his educational qualification for the franchise, the Tories patronising the nostrum with great unction. The intention was to inflict another defeat on the Government. When half-past five o'clock arrived there was a great clamour for a division, but Mr Montague Chambers occupied the next quarter of an hour, and when the clock poinled to a quarter to six the debate was adjourned by the rules of the house, and the plotters retired discomfited.

The adjourned debate on Captain Hayter's amendment was resumed on Thurs-

day, the 31st., was continued on Friday, and culminated in a division on Monday, the 4th inst. The master-speech of tat second night's discussion is acknowledged to have been Mr Lowe's, which, as the "Spectator" observes, was "one of the finest specimens of his insincere but splendid oratory." Among the speakew were Mr Goschen, Sir John Pakington, Mr Mills, Sir Hugh Cairns, Mr Disraeli, and Mr Gladstone. Long before the cloie of the wordy struggle there were unmistakable signs of division and defection in the Adullamite camp, which alarmed the Conservative host. The "cave," a3 Mr B. Osborne wittily remarked, was shrivelling up into a " grotto. 1 " They began to dread the consequences of their factious proceedings. They wanted to get rid of the obnoxious bill, but they did not want to let the Tories into the Treasury. A.t length their fears found expression in some anxious questionings, put by Lord Klcho, as to whether the Government would withdraw their measure if Captain Hayter's amendment should be rejected. Mr Gladstone's reply was enigmatical : it admitted of a twofold interpretation. The collapse of the unnatural alliance became more evident on the last night of the debate, when Lord -Grosvenor rose and declared that, though still opposed to the Ministerial scheme of reform, he would be no party, in the present critical state of Europe, to any vote which would displace the Government, and lose the services of the Earl of Clarendon. Captain Hayter begged permission to withdraw his challenge, and Lord Elcho protested against any division under such circumstances. But Government insisted; and a division seeming inevitable, the Tories rose en masse and rushed from the House, followed by some of their Liberal allies. Amidst a scene of unparalleled confusion and excitement, a division actually took place — there being 403 votes for going into committee, and only two on the other side. The enemies of the Government were thus put to a total rout. They were excessively savage, but they soon rallied and renewed their old tactics.

On Thursday, the 7th, after a Tory " caucus" meeting, a new ambuscade was laid, On bringing up the county franchise clause, Lord Stanley rose and, without any previous notice, proposed the postponement of the clause until the redistribution scheme was disposed of. But the unworthy dodge failed. The indignant chancellor obtained a majority of twenty-seven in a House of 647 members. Under the influence of the bad impression created by the failure of Lord Stanley's manoeuvre, Mr Walpole moved the substitution of a/£j2o for a Ll4 county franchise,, which wa3 negatived by a majority of fourteen in a still larger House. Still the harass went on, a fresh crop of amendments springing up from day to day, and all sorts of foreign topics being interposed to trifle away time and insure delay. On Monday, the 11th, Mr Hunt renewed the attack on the county franchise, by proposing a rating instead of a rental qualification, which was equivalent to raising it to Ll7 or LlB ; but it was defeated by the large majority of fortynine. Other minor Government victories followed; but Ministers were becoming thorougly disgusted and worn out by hostility so unslumbering and tactics so dishonourable ; and accordingly, when defeated yesterday week on the question of the basis of the borough franchise, they resolved'to abdicate a position which they could no longer retain consistently with self-respect and becoming dignity.

RESIGNATION OF MINISTERS.

Great crowds assembled about the entrance to Westminster-hall in the afternoon at the time when the members of the House of Commons were arriving. Inside the House there was at four o'clock a great gathering, and at half-past four every available spot was occupied. Shortly after that time the Chancellor of the Exchequer rose, and amidst breathless silence announced that Ministers had tendered their resignation; that Her Majesty had declined to accept this resignation without further consideration, and in order that she might have personal interviews with Ministers had hastened her return to town. Her Majesty had appointed one o'clock today at Windsor Castle as the time when she would receive Earl Russell and himself. Under these circumstances, he moved the adjournment of the House until six o'clock this evening. Shortly afterwards the House adjourned. At five o'clock a similar statement was made in the' House of Lords by Earl Russell. a He, however, added that ncr Majesty's hesitation in accepting the resignation of Ministers arose from the troubled state of affairs, especially on the Continent.

A report is in circulation to the effect that Ministers are likely to announce to the House this evening that they have not. under present circumstances, resolved upon recommending a dissolution, and that therefore a resignation is to be immediately expected. The " Star" fears the report is not without foundation. Of course it is impossible at present to know anything for certain upon a subject which has yet to be discussed with Her Majesty, but the impression prevailing in ■political circles last night was, that a dissolution ia not likely to take place.

The Chilian Minister in England has presented his letter of recall. No reason has been assigned for this act. It is reported that Chili has also suppressed its legations in Paris and New York.

The elevation of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland to. the dignity of an earl of the United Kingdom, by the name, style, and title of Earl of Kimberley, in the county of Norfolk, has been officially announced. The new Divorce Act, which was recently passed, has been printed. It contains several important provisions. Hitherto the court, on a dissolution of marriage. ba» been in the practice of ordering a gross or annual payment to be made to a wife : but it has happened frequently that a husband has had no property on which such an order could be made. The court, is now empowered to make an order for ■#' monthly or weekly payment, and if the - husband is unable to continue such payment, to discharge or modify the order, or to suspend the same wholly or in part. In certain cases relief may be granted to a respondent as if a petition had been filed seeking such relief. A decree nisi fora dissolution of marriage is not to be absolute for six months, unless a shorter time is specially fixed. The act has immediate operation, and is now in force. His Holiness the Pope'haa conferred one of the vacant Cardinal's hats unouDr. Cullen. F