GREY THE MAIL.

West Coast Times, Issue 706, 28 December 1867, Page 4

GREY THE MAIL.

I^BplfeSiiL SUMMARY. -,- .[Conclusion.] (eb,|m the home news.) . • ■ Oct. 26. that the proceedings of At Synod should not hare ilia colonies. At least, churchmen peruse the resothat Synod liaa emitted, the H^H^fcwill arise, it it be at present torthough the bishops in secret had nothing to say t j England which much con - her, and indeed are open to the of being afraid to deal with the HP^™° ns which agitate the establishment, they have shown no such timidity in regard to the colonies. What share the bishops of those regions have had in compelling so much attention to the subject will hereafter be known better. But it is certain that the Synod has been ready to deal with the colonial churches. As far as Natal is concerned, through there has been demonstration enough, and Bishop Gray seemed to think that he was getting it all his own way, and was going to beat down Colenso under his feet, prudence intervened, and the Primate of All England would not go the full length desired by the prelate who considers himself Primate of All Africa. The question of a new consecration turns on an " if," and the report of a committee which will not report, ] fully, in a hurry. Meantime Dr Gray, who was made by Miss Burdett Coutts, has been "invited" by her solicitor to resign, which he declines doing, and has therefore put himself into just the same position as Dp. Colenso, except that the latter abides by a principle, while Dr Gray avails himself of the non-existence of a law. But for the colonial churches generally it is suggested that they should put themselves more completely under episcopal authority, and that a voluntary tribunal of bishops should , be appointed, for the settlement of spiritual difficulties — what is sauce for the colony is sauce for home. We want something of this kind very much indeed, but their lordships in Synod do not offer it here. The true object of the proposition is, of course, clear, and it remains to be seen how far colonial churchmen will ap : prove it. We have not had occasion of late to say much on American affairs. They had got into a tangle highly interesting to those who were concerned either in undoing it, or in increasing its complications, but it was not very comprehensible by the outlying world. Nor" do we affect to say thai at the present date we can clearly indicate the course of American politics. One thing, howeye} 1 , is clear— namely that a certain reaction has set in against the Republicans. Hitherto, and from before the famous gun from Fort Sumter, that party has been tremendously in the ascendant. They had their war, they conquered, and it has indeed been a ease of vce victis, as was natural, considering the awful price which it cost to bring the - South to its knees. The conquerors determined that the victory should be felt in every Southern home, and have succeeded. More, in several of the' provinces the negro has been exalted, and the white - man crushed. The party fearlessly proclaimed that this should go on. But— it is useless to disguise it — the white instinct o has re-asserted itself, andthe real feeling of of the Northerners is making itself Lnown in the elections. The black manhasbeenfree,theSouthhasbeenbroken . down, the Union has been maintained, but ■ the negro is not to reign. The Democrats ■ ~~aie checking the Republicans,and now that , the elections are on, are making the reaction felt. Until results shall be known, it is impossible to say how far the reaction ■ go, but when a tide has once turned matters little at what rate it ebbs, we know that ere very long it will have gone out. The President's friend's are " encouraged." So much for politics. It is ■ due to the nation to add that Butler, a -flame not mentioned with respect (and y the only good deed of whose life has been his compelling the New Orleans people to drain their town) has been suggesting that American obligations might be paid in " currency" instead of in gold. But s -this proposal has hurt both the pride and f v. the honor of the States, and it is universally repudiated, and Butler is called by a name which need not be transferred to these columns — but he deserves it. This is the season which some call " slack," and others " silly," and both . . terms have their fitness. There are no politics, and in the absence of such topics the journalists are obliged to make ■ bricks without straw. Hence, every recess is marked by correspondence, and fulminating articles upon matters which would not be noticed in busier times. We have had three or four this year which have occupied vast space. The question who was the architect of the Houses of Parliament came on early, and has been noticed, since which we have been edified with debates whether it does young men harm to pull in row- j „, ing matches, whether we ought to shoot * . small birds (this is annual), and whether ' the parochial clergy are of any use or not. A more profitable subject has last arisen, namely, how we can make the butchers reduce the abominable price charge us for meat, and whether, if our own farmers will not help us, we cannot get help from Australia. And '.men who have eaten Australian preserved meats write to certify that they , are better than the food for which we are now charged a shilling a pound. It is possible that some good may come out ,of this last debate. It w ill not be very long before a grim sight which has been shown to the lower class for centuries will be taken away, we mean the public execution. Attention has been again called to the subject by t- the circumstances attending a recent rj . affair of the kind. Two men were hanged in London on October 15. One died at Newgate, the other at Horsemongerjane Gaol. The first, tamed Wiggings declared his innocence. There is no reason to think that he was innocent, and it is most probable that his terror of death made him exhaust every coward y trick to gaiu a reprieve. He clung to the rope, screamed, and was destroyed by main force. The sight was not one which it is well to exhibit, and a new argument is furnished for private execution in the prison. A far more appalling effect would be produced by the sound of the bell — the hoisting the black flag — and its fall at the moment the drop fell. The other execution was for a similar crime, the murder of a woman, but the culprit, a Frenchman called Bordier.*. behaved in a becoming manner, confessed his crime, bowed to the spectators, and " died as erring man should die." The question of public executions will probably be settled in the next session, but assuredly in the one which will follow. It may be assumed that some of the Fenian ruffians who now wait trial by a special commission for the rescue and murder at Manchester will W'-the next -persons to eomo under the

bands of the executioner, with the approbation of the nation. We had thought that the days of the prize ring were over, the swindling and brutality connected with it bring enough to warn off all rational men — all decent men have been warned off long before. But there are still dupes to be plucked and knaves to pluck them. The last time " a great fight " was appointed, one of the champions was left behind — "of course" by accident — in a cab, and the train unfortunately wont away without him. This time, a battle between Mace and O'Baldwin being promised, it was felt that a little more art must be used, so all went well up to nearly the last moment, people of the verdant Soil paid three guineas for tickets, and the train moved off. It was Mace, this time, who had been arrested at his lodgings, "of course '' no one having given information to the police. He went through some good mock violence, threatening to kill everybody, but he did not kill anybody, and was bound over by Sir Thomas Henry net to fight anybody. By way of keeping up the swindle to the very last, counsel's opinion was taken whether the men might fight in France. We presume the manager of the business had not audacity to charter a steamer, go to Boulogne, and there be taken in charge by the French police, or this would have been a master stroke. We doubt, however, after what we have seen, whether all the gulls are used up yet. Another mitre falls to Lord Derby, the excellent and aged Dr Lonsdale, Bishop of Lichfield, having died literally in harness, for he was sitting down to a 9 o'clock dinner, after attending an education meeting and writing twenty letters — and he was eighty. Lord Colchester has died, but we have no fact to add in connection with the name save that he was a naval man, served some Government offices, and that his grandmother married Jeremy Bentham. Mr Miall, a leading Dissenter and Radical of talent, has been beaten at Bradford by a moderate Liberal.

The favorite among our young actresses, Miss Kate Terry, has received her reward, having been wedded to Mr Arthur Lewis, a gentleman of great wealth and of artistic talent, whose gatherings of all the known men in London, at his Kensington villa, were things to be remembered. It is said that Mr Lewis, who purchased the beautiful Highland seat belonging to the late John Phillip, the painter, presented it to his bride on the wedding day, and it is agreeable to record so chivalrous an act of gallantry — we can almost forgive him for taking the delightful artist from the stage. •