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Leader (1850-1860), 20th September 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 6, CONTINENTAL NOTES. ¦ . ¦ - ¦ - ¦ ¦'¦ * F...

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      America. The Struggle Between The Senate...

      whether the terrible visitation will afflict them , or be checked in its career . New York is swarming- w th desperadoes , driven out of California by the Vigilance Committee ; and many outrages have been the result of this disreputable importation . ¦ . . •¦ ' , _ ' 7 Of the American harvest we read m the J \ ew Xorle Journal of ' Commerce . •—>« The returns from the -ivheat harvest of the United States are now complete , and it is settled that the crop is of most excellent quality , and , if not the largest ever gathered since the settlement of the country , is at least above the average , and will yield a large surplus beyond the supply of our domestic wants . " A convention has been entered into between Mexico and Spain , amicably ' - / adjusting their differences with respect to the question of the Spanish fund . -

      894 The Jjeadeb. [No. £39/Saturday

      894 THE JJEADEB . [ No . £ 39 / Saturday

      The Orient. Istdia. Some More Detailed I...

      THE ORIENT . ISTDIA . Some more detailed items of news from the East have been received by the regular mails since the telegraphic despatches published last week . The Times Calcutta correspondent furnishes the particulars of a disagreement which we have had with , the Court of Ava , and which nearly led to a . serious collision : — - " A Burmese prince recently took refuge in Rangoon . He had been , he said , in danger of his life , and consequently demanded British protection . Tor some months , he resided quietly enough at Rangoon , paying his own way , and . interfering with nobody . On the 28 tU of June , he was found dead , hacked to pieces . One of his servants , whea closely

      examined , confessed that lie had assisted iu the murder It "was perpetrated by a man named Kga-pya , an aidede-camp , or personal favourite of the heir apparent to the throne of Ava . Nga-pya was arrested , but the servant , when in the box , denied liis own voluntary statement , and the ruffian was acquitted . The approver was placed on . his trial for perjury , aud swore roundly that his original statement was correct . Of course , even in despotic India , a man once acquitt « d is held guiltless , hut there exists little doubt of the facts . No one save the heir apparent had any motive for such a deed . '' In

      his original statement , the approver said that he was induced to join the plot by hopes held out by Ngapya : that a high appointment would , lie conferred upon him by the king's brother ; but lie denied that he lieard Nga-pya say by whose OTder it was that he was about to kill the prince . The Europeans in Rangoon , and the members of the Government themselves , are very indignant at the occurrence ; but , there being no positive proof that the Burmese heir apparent was the instigator of the murder , it is impossible to take any steps against him .

      An important reform , has been introduced into the Bengal army , with reference to the Sepoys . Formerly , they were only bound to ' march' wherever they might be ordered ; they could not be compelled to . proceed by sea . Taking advantage of this quibble , they caused great inconvenience at the outbreak of the Burmese war by refusing to go by sea to the place of hostilities . By the new system , the power of refusal is to Temain intact with those men already enlisted ; but all new recruits must promise distinctly to serve beyond sea ; if ordered . It seems that there is a superstition to the effect that a Hindoo who crosses the Indus loses caate ; but this , no doubt , will be speedily broken down , and the Bengal native army may then be employed , if need be , for foreign conquest .

      " The bill for permitting the re-marriage of widows , " says the writer from whom we have already quoted , " has received the Governor - General ' s assent . So far as one can judge , it is popular . Throe Brahmin families are , I hear , about to give their widowed daughters in marriage . I asked an . old priest what he thought of the law . He looked round to seo that nobody was listening , and said , ' If I speak from my soul , it is a good , law ; if I speak with my mouth , it is an . infamous piece of tyranny . ' And that is very nearly the opinion of the only class , a very limited one , which even pretends to disapprove . The Legislative Council is literally beset with petitions praying for the abolition of polygamy . One , a most pungent , clear-spoken affair , has been received from the Rajah of Nuddea , "

      . ^ Tho Government has determined upon dopriving of his hereditary title any native nobleman who may be guilty of a dishonourable act . This power always belonged to the Moguls , but has never yet been exercised by the English Government—The monument over the remains of Mr . Vans Agnow and Lieutenant Anderson , vrho were murdered by th « garrison ofc Moultan in April 184 *—a ciimo which led to the annexation of tho Pun-Jfcb— -has just been finished . It is erected on the top of thiftjcitaddl of Moultan . •»» , «^ i ^ Ugenco from Hera * does not at all illuminate time « S ^ * bas involved that placo for some umDhVt ™? 116 «« ount represents tho Persians aa tri-ScSlS ^ t T ^^ 6- According t o a letter hTthowXt U ^ nJ 5 , ab , Ome ! invade 4 Candahar because 3 * S « 5 SF « SS

      leave the Persians in possession of Herat , if he does not receive aid from the Anglo-Indian Government . The allegation that an order has been issued by the Government , forbidding the commencement of all public works costing more than a thousand pounds- —an assertion -which has been denied in several places—is now confirmed by the publication in the Madras Government Gazette , of the order in question . It is said that the publication was sanctioned by mistake . The King of Ou . de remains in the neighbourhood of Calcutta .

      • Irela.Nd. The Irish Funds.-—The Downwa...

      • IRELA . ND . The Irish Funds .- —The downward movement in the rates of Government securities has been , sensibly felt at Dublin . Though the desire to sell did not amount to a panic , there was so great a rush of sellers to the Stock Exchange on Thursday week , that Consols , which began at 932 , for cash ( itself a considerable decline from ' the prices of the preceding day ) , fell progressively to 92 i , at which , figure the market closed ; but sales were forced after'Change at 921 . Subsequently to this , however , there was some tendency to recovery . The share market showed a corresponding weakness : the general share list of the same day was almost a blank , there " being no more than three quotations . The Freeman's Journal mentions as one of the causes of this depression that" there had been large buying during the present account by mere speculators of stock from London , and they had put off too long arranging to carry over , and that when the account for the dealing of the past month came on for settlement , they were in a regular iix . Those that could buy would not , but held off , and bought only at their own prices . "

      The Harvest . — -The crops are now almost entirely gathered in ,, which- is considered unusually early , and , owing to this remarkable celerity , the total expense in labour has been less than ordinary , though wages have been considerably higher per diem . The potato disease has spread but little ; and the supply of the national root is abundant and at cheap rates . Ejugbation . —One of the Galway papers , noticing the continuance of the exodus from that province , speaks of a counter . tide of returning emigrants , persons who have amassed some wealth or who have fallen into a state of ill-health . The numbers , however , are said to be merety fractional as compared with the outwardbound movement .

      Protestant Intolerance . — The Cork magistrates were engaged on . Saturday in investigating a charge made against several persons for an attack on a house in which the Irish Church Missionary Society were holding a controversial meeting . The Roman Catholics were invited to tUe meeting , but the speakers indulged in most offensive attacks upon some of their dogmas , asserting that tlie Roman Catholics must be much worse than asses to believe them . Irritated at this , the Papists made the attack complained of . The magistrates determined on granting informations for riot and assault against four of the offenders , and at the same time advised all Roman Catholics to abstain from going to such meetings , it being a crime against their own Church , to attend them , and a fruitful source of disturbances .

      The Crimean Banquet .- —Archbishop . M'Hale , having been requested to contribute pecuniarily to the Crimean banquet , replies by writing a long letter to the Freeman's Journal , in which , after expressing full concurrence with tlie proposed festivity , he dilates on the grievances of which Irish soldiers and Irishmen generally have to complain . He concludes : —" Tlie committee will receive sympathy and support to a large amount if , when pledging the health of those brave men , they crown it with another , which it will not be their fashion to forget or disregard—the pledge of never relaxing in their efforts until they succeed in achieving for that portion yet bereft of the enjoyment , free and easy access to their altars during Avar , and the quiet shelter of their native roof after their triumphant return . "

      Murder . —Two brothers , named Lydon , aro in . custody in Galway , charged with the murder of a girl to whom one of the accused was married . This man had been indicted at the last assizes for a serious offence committed on tlio girl ; but on the eve of the trial he got married to her , and the ju < lgo was obliged to discharge him . He thon claimed his wife , and she went to live with him ; but she suddenly disappeared , and , after a long search , her body was discovered in the sand on tho banks of Lough Cprrib . Suspicion attaches to both the Lydons .

      Mr . Smith O'Brien Accepts ' the Situation . 'Having returned to hie paternal seat at Cahirmoyle , in tho county of Limerick , Mr . Smith O'Brien has been welcomed by en address from tho Inhabitants of the baronies of Rathkeale and Newcastle . In answer to this document , tho ex-exilo wrote a long letter to his sympathizers , in which ho alludes to the altered etato of political feeling In Ireland , and adds : — I am compelled to conclude that my opinions are out of date , and that Irish patriotism no longor means what it appeared tome at Tara in the year 1843 . Let mo not be misunderstood . I novor maintained , nor do I new maintain , that It is the duty of Irish patriots to seek separation from

      England by forcible means . Under all probable ciiau a-Blances when , in 1 -848 , this country was reducedby mi » - government to a condition more abject than any that it had known even in the worst period of its disastrous history , and when we were deprived of all constitutional methods of redress by the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act , I thought , and I still think , that resistance was justifiable . " But , proceeds Mr .. . O'Brien ,. a little further on , " I accept our defeat as a decree of Providence ; and if the Irish people think that we can be more happy under the Government of the Imperial Parliament than under that of a local Legislature , I am compelled to acquiesce in that preference . 1 acquiesce in it with the less reluctance because this country is now comparatively prosperous , and because sotae of the evils which gave occasion for discontent have been mitigated . "

      Continental Notes. ¦ . ¦ - ¦ - ¦ ¦'¦ * F...

      CONTINENTAL NOTES . ¦ . ¦ - ¦ - ¦ ¦'¦ * FRANCE . Nafoieon III . and Louis Napoleon . — -The National ( Belgian liberal journal ) and the A r oi'd ( Belgian Russian journal ) announce that the Pays has been . forbidden . * to continue its debate with tlie Siecle , a ' jirojios of . the works of Louis Napoleon . The Pays , it will be remembered , when it broke off its discourse in the middle , pretended that it could no longer argue with an uncourteous journalist . The fTord says : — " It is well , understood that the actual Emperor is not bhliged to agree with tlie prisoner of Ham , and it is therefore , indiscreet on the part of a ministerial . writer to undertake the task of reconciling the opinions of Louis Bonaparte with the opinions of Napoleon III . " '

      Socialism i 2 f Neuj-ciiatel . — The Nord pretends that " the troops of the Confederation have just extinguished a Socialist conspiracy that was about to burst forth in Neufchatel . According to all accounts , the behaviour of the Royalists during their momentary ascendancy was savage in the extreme . It may now le said that there is not a person in Franco who has not heard and discussed the rumour that the Emperor's intellects have • been recently giviqg way . There must be some truth in all this , especially as the Government , papers , without alluding to this

      report , are very anxious to tell the public that the Emperor the other day walked three or four mileSj part of which teas along a ledge , where only one person cottfd j >^ ss at owce , from wliich we are to infer that he walked without being supported . From what I can hear , the attack is of a nervous character , and arose originally from the well-known affection of the spine . " Its symptoms are a wandering of the attention and disgust at public business . Extreme parties begin to talk of the tortures of conscience ; but tliese do not usually , begin to show themselves in the midst of so successful a career . Another

      rumour which finds belief us , that he is nursing an arm — broken by a pistol-shot . The late visit of the Emperor and Empress to San Sebastian in Spain has been described Ly a correspondent of Galignani , wlio is very enthusiastic about the " thundering salute" of the thirty-six pounders which were mounted on the battlements of the citadel after the lato insurrection at Madrid , and about " the Emperor ' s simple blue frock-coat , light waistcoat , and dark trousers , " which . " gave him the air of an English gentleman , to which , a regular English-built hat not a little contributed . " Tho writer adds : —" On landing , tho Imperial party walked to the beautiful church , of Santa Maria , where the Empress prayed a few moments at the altar ,

      and then proceeded to the Town-house , m the Plaza Nueva . Adjourning thence to the municipal library , their Majesties partook of refreshments in that apartment , whero Lieutenant March , the British Vice-consul here , had the honour of being presented to the Emperor . This was . the only presentation , I believe , which took place . A tour on the hill upon which tho citadel and the picturesque British cemetery are situate , including an inspection of the citadel and a magnificent bird's-eye view of the surrounding country , concluded the Imperial visit to San Sebastian . The Emperor read with evident interest the English iuacription on the tombs of several

      officers and men belonging ; to the old British Auxiliary Legion , including a white marble tablet to the memory of Sir Ii . Flotcher and the other engineer officers who fell in the sicgo of San Sebastian in 1813 , and it was remarked that his Majesty * left for a moment the Empress ' s arm to decipher the letters better . Thoir Majesties evidently enjoyed their visit and appreciated the welcome which they received . The shadows of night woro stealing over the Atlantic when tho Newton ( what an example the French set the English in honouring merit' and genius !) and tUe Pelican , hoisting lights at their mastheads , stood out of the bar . "

      A sharp nffiiir with tho Kabylcs , in Algeria , is thus reported by tha Times Paris correspondent : —" Tho oropa had boen gathered , and were heaped up round the villngeof Dra-el-Mizatn , when 0000 Kabylcs came down to burn them . Tho whole force the IVench had was tho native r / oum , one battalion of the 45 th licgiment , and a squadron of Chasseurs d'Afriquo . They placed tho natives in advance , and Arranged a sort of ambuscade with the regular troops . The Kabyles came on furiously , the gown retired before them , and the pursuers suddenly found themselves charged with tho buyonetby th « bat-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 20, 1856, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20091856/page/6/