Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893), Saturday 16 December 1843, page 4


ENGLISH NEWS.

By the Andromeda, which arrived on Thursday last, from London, which she left on the 10th August, we have English intelligence up to the beginning of that month.

The most important intelligence is that con-tracts had been entered into by the emigration commissioners for conveying to this colony 5000 immigrants, or more. The contractors were Mr. Anderson, of Glasgow, and Mr. Smith, of Liverpool ; and the contract was taken at £16 per head ; half the immigrants were to leave England in the course of the present year, and the other half before June, 1844. The bounty is to be paid in the colony ; and the colonial government will have in-structions to provide the necessary funds for the

purpose.

It was rumoured that Sir Robert Peel was about to retire from the premiership, and that he had determined to recommend Mr. Gladstone as his successor. Mr. Gladstone is a man of

great talents and information, and of liberal views in commercial policy.

The Irish Arms Bill had passed the House of Commons, after a debate which lasted fourteen days. Its duration is limited to two years, instead of ten, as originally proposed, and its provisions are very stringent. During the debates, upon a motion for enquiry into the grievances of Ireland, Lord John Russell and other leading members of the opposition urged upon the government, as the only means of preserving the Union, to establish the Catholic church in Ireland, to give seats in the House of Lords to the Irish Archbishops, and to enter into a concordat with Rome. Several of the Tory members, among whom were Captain Rous, the Hon. Mr. Smythe, and Mr. Milnes, highly approved of this proposal, but Sir R. Peel, without giving any clear indication of his views, objected to the inconvenience of having two distinct benches of Bishops of Parliament. The repeal agitation was nearly as great in France and in America as in Ireland itself. The Orange papers were urgent for a call of the House of Common in order to compel Mr. O'Connell to leave Ireland, where he continued   to hold " monster meetings," but no such motion had been made. A great number of Protestant gentlemen had enlisted under the repeal banner, and the Dublin Evening Mail, the great organ of the Orangemen, was assuming a tone more favourable to repeal. The forces concentrated in Ireland exceeded, it was said, 35,000 men.

South Wales still continued in a highly disturbed state. Parties calling themselves " Rebecca's Children," and sometimes amount-ing to 500 persons or more, were perambulating the country, and destroying property.

The intelligence of the failure of the Bank of Australia had reached England, accompanied by a report, which was subsequently contradicted, that the cashier had absconded with £15,000.

Major General D'Aguila, the commandant of the Belfast district, had received an offer of the Governorship of Hongkong, in succession to Lord Saltoun, whose health had been impaired by the climate of the East.

An act was passed on the 28th July, authorising her Majesty to issue letters patent severing Norfolk Island from the colony of New South Wales, diocese of Australia, and attaching it to the colony of Van Diemen's Land, and diocese

of Tasmania.

Mr. Bright, the celebrated anti-corn-law Quaker, had been returned member for Durham by a majority of 78.

The prorogation of Parliament was not expected to take place before the last week in August.

The Hull and Lieth steamer Pegasus had been wrecked at the inner Fern Islands, on her passage from Leith to Hull, and upwards of forty lives were lost.

The Gazette still continued to announce

appointments to benefices vacant by the secession

of their incumbents in the church of Scotland.

During a visit to Liverpool, the Rev. Father Mathew administered the total abstinence

pledge to upwards of 30,000 persons. The very rev. gentleman had arrived in London.

A report was prevalent in the Germany States that her Majesty Queen Victoria intended paying a visit to her relations in Germany.

A parliamentary return just published shows that the sums paid, or to be paid, on account of the war with China amount to £2,879,873 ; of which sum £804,964 are required to be voted in 1843-44, as balance due to the East India Company.

Southampton has been fixed upon as the starting point of the steamers carrying the mails to the West Indies and South America, to the East Indies, Egypt, Malta, and Spain and Portugal, without calling at Falmouth to take in the mails, or on the homeward voyage to deliver

them.

The King of Hanover and his suit were expected to leave England for Germany the second week in August.

GOODWOOD RACES.-The Goodwood races commenced on Tuesday, July 25. The Grat-wicke Stakes, value £2150, was won by Mr. Bowes's Cotherstone, carrying 8st. 7lb. This is the fifth race this horse has won during the season, and the value of the stakes amount to between nine and ten thousand pounds. The other great race, the Goodwood Stakes, value £1310, was won by Mr. Forth's Lucy Banks. Fifteen horses started for the race. The Good-

wood Cup was won by Mr. Litchwald's Hyllus ; and the Chesterfield Cup by Lord Miltoun's

Scalteen.

DALHOUSIE CONSTITUTED "A FREE PORT."

-A general order from the Lords of the Treasury has been received this week, enclosing an order in council "for extending the privileges of a free port to the port of Dalhousie, on the river Restigouche, in the province of New Bruns-wick."-Liverpool Mail, July 22.

ARRIVAL OF FIVE GIRAFFES.-The collection at the Surrey Zoological Gardens has just received a rich and valuable, addition by the arrival from Egypt of a large consignment of

five of these extraordinary animals.

The London Journal of Commerce of July 29th says-" A good demand has prevailed for tallow, and prices have advanced to 42s. on the spot, and 42s. 3d. to 42s. 6d. for new tallow for late delivery. The market looks now buoyant, and the trade seem disposed to go into stock at present rates."

The wool market appeared to have undergone little or no alteration. Some large sales of colonial wool were announced to take place in London early in August. Australian wool, first quality, was quoted at 1s. 6d. to 1s. 10d. per lb. ; second quality, 1s. 3d. to 1s. 8d ; third quality, 11d. to 1s. 1d. ; lambs, 1s. 2d. to 1s. 6d. ; grease, 7d. to 8d. ; New South Wales salted hides were quoted at 2¼d. to 3d. per lb.

A proclamation by General Houston had been published, declaring the establishment of an

armistice between Mexico and Texas.

The dispute in Servia was settled, at least for the present, by the unanimous re-election of Prince Alexander Cara Georgewics.

Advices from St. Domingo to the 1st July stated that the island was perfectly quiet, and the public affairs harmoniously conducted by the provisional government. No election of President had taken place.

It is stated that the Greek government has requested the protecting powers to pay the dividends on the Greek loan up to the 1st March, 1844; but that the ambassadors have replied that the Greek government must provide the means of meeting even the dividend due on the 1st September.-Examiner.

Washington Irving has succeeded to a large fortune, which has been bequeathed to him by one of the Society of Friends, to whom the distinguished American author was personally

unknown.

The King of the Belgians has issued an or-donnance that all wools in bulk shall be allowed to pass through Belgium without payment of any transit duty.

The diet at Presburg voted the usual address in reply to the speech of the Emperor on opening the session. It calls the attention of the imperial government to the undue and extraordinary influence which Russia has acquired of late years in the provinces bordering on the Danube, and it prays the government to counteract it.