20 OCTOBER 1860, Page 7

iiirrign an tohnunl.

iT all E P.—The most important item of news from Paris is the ap- proaching departure of the Papal Nuncio. The Moniteur of Tuesday puts it in this shape-

" The Papal Nuncio being about to proceed to Rome on leave for several weeks, and having solicited the honour of presenting his respects to the Emperor before departure, was received in audience yesterday by his Majesty."

Next, we have the following-boutade in the Constitutionnel, under the signature of " Boniface."

"The invasion of the Neapolitan territory by the Piedmontese army is now en accomplished fact. Let us examine with the most scrupulous Im- partiality the character and bearing of this event.

" The sovereignty of states is the fundamental guarantee of the indepen- dence of peoples. That sovereignty exercises itself in various ways. It may reside in a dynasty which transmits it, or in a nation which delegates it. As long as it acts within itself—within the circle in which it is circum- scribed by international law—it belongs to itself; it acts on perfect self- liberty, and under its own entire responsibility before the opinion of the world from which one day. the conscience of history will be cleared.

" The principle of the independence of regularly constituted autonomies admits very well the political transformations of a people, the changes of a dynasty which are accomplished by its will, and the internal revolutions to which it is urged by it passions or interests. They are so many manifest- ations of its sovereiguty, which other states could not contest without com- Promising their own. The policy of non-intervention, which our epoch has held up as the result of the progress of international right, is only the conseeration of those reciprocal guarantees.

" The application of these principles and of these rules to the facts which we wish to consider is a national deduction. If it suits the Neapolitans and Sicilians to make revolutions at home, that concerns themselves alone; but no foreign state, no more Piedmont than Austria, has the right to meddle in their internal attkirs, or to impose any conditions whatever of a political

existenc y ere is b an armed intervention.

" Ths a dill-humeri between the invasion of Garibaldi and that of the Piedmontese army which must strike every one. Garibaldi was only a partisan. Before embarking for Sicily he had resigned his sword of com- mand; he obeyed what he considered his personal mission, and his acts were only binding upon himself. If it is true that among the volunteers enrolled in his enterprise there were strangers, he came, nevertheless, in the name of Italy, as an Italian, to create and direct internal revolution in the states of the King of Naples. It is not with his bands that he could conquer a people of ten millions of men—he could only communicate his owu passion to it, and drag it along with him by the prestige attached to his name in a supreme struggle against a government struck by unpopularity. " The Piedmontese invasion bears quite another character. It consti- tutes the direct interference of a regular state in an independent state. It is, consequently, en attempt struck against the sovereignty of the kingdom of the Two Similes by the King of Sardinia; and, as if everything should be strange and abnormal in this situation, the Piedmoutese invasion took place without a declaration of wa ,r while the representative of the King of Naples was still at Turin. But the conduct of Piedmont is not only in opposition. to international law, it is, moreover, in contradiction to all the principles which it has itself invoked, and which it now disowns. In fact, when the Roman Government appeared inclined to appeal to Neapolitan intervention to protect it against the menaces of a revolution, the cabinet of Turin did not hesitate to declare that it should consider the entrance of the army of the King of Naples into the States of the Church as a violation of its neu- trality.

" Only recently it challenged the right of the Pope to form a public force from foreign elements, and it is because the Sovereign Pontiff refused to submit to a summons calling him to dissolve that force that his States have been invaded. By what strange inconsistency dces Piedmont, which main- tained in so threatening a manner the principle of neutrality againt Govern- ments that sought to protect themselves, violate it now with this audacity against those salmi Governments to upset them ?

" There is more still ; when Count Cavour sought to justify in his memo- randum the invasion of the Sates of the Church, lie distinctly declared that Piedmont wished to prevent a revolutionary outbreak there, and thatserious step on her part was a sort of military coup d'etat directed principally against the influence of Garibaldi.

" Is Piedmont then now, by intervening in the Neapolitan states, going to combat Garibaldi ? Evidently not ; she is going to aid him. It is not at Naples, but at Gaeta, that the efforts of the Piedmontese army will be tried. " Thus, in whatever point of view we take it, it is impossible not to deplore the conduct of Piedmont. The invasion of the States of the Church and that of the Neapolitan States throw a responsibility upon her which it is in vain to attentuate—it characterizes itself. It is not for us to exagge- rate it or lessen it. We have simply to state it. " Piedmont is reponsible to Europe for the initiative she has just taken. Europe constitutes a jurisdiction which finds itself naturally concerned by such great perturbations as those of which Italy is now the theatre. We think that it appertains to her, and to her alone, to redress the disregarded right, and to remind Governments who disregard the law of the respect which is due to it, and which is obligatory on every state, as it is founded on justice, civilization, and the interests of peoples."

The article of the Constitution:lel has had the unenviable privilege of displeasing all the other Paris journals, no matter of what shade of opinion. In a long funeral oration lately 'pronounced in the Cathedral of Or- leans by Bishop Dupanloup, in honour of the dupes of Catholic volun- teers who have fallen in defence of the temporal power of the Pope, a number of false assertions were made, and after the service copies of a telegraphic despatch, attributed to General de Guyon' were distributed among the congregation. That communication, dated September 7, and addressed to General de Lamericiere, is as follows-

" I have to inform you by the Emperor's order that the Piedmontese will not enter the Roman States, and that 20,000 French troops are to occupy the different fortified places in those States. Take all s our measures, there- fore, against Garibaldi."

It is to that document that the Moniteur this morning alludes in the following official note-

" Some foreign journals persist in speaking of a telegraphic despatch which the Emperor's Ambassador at Rome is said to have addressed to General de Lamoriciere, announcine to him the immediate assistance of French troops. We formally deny the existence of that despatch. The Duke de Gramont could not have taken on himself the responsibility of such a step. It is simply to the French Consul at Ancona that he wrote, in order that the latter might have it in his power to give, in answer to false reports, the assurance that the invasion of the States of the Holy See, far from having taken place with the authorization of the Emperor's Govern- ment, had excited its strong disapprobation. We may add that, at that period, our corps of occupation was not composed of more than two regiments of infantry, and that there was then no idea of increasing the number. How could it be therefore supposed that the French Ambassador could have promised General do Lamoriciere, and under circumstances which admitted of no delay, a support which the very force of things would not allow him to give ? "

The Journal tie Borne, it is said, will soon contain an answer to the paragraph in the Moniteur which denied the existence of the French Am- bassador's or general's despatch to General Lamorieiere ; for one version of the story is that General Goyon sent the paper. The best answer would be the despatch itself.

The Bishops are displaying a most marked hostility to the Government. Pastorals, circulars, allocutions, and sermons denounce, and all but im- plore Divine vengeance on the invaders of the Papal States. One of the most daring in tone and language in the Bishop of Poitiers, whose allo- cution appears today, and of which one or two short extracts will,givo ycu a notion of the feeling of the French episcopacy-

" The limi's of iniquity are passed," exclaims the Bishop, " public mo- rality, is openly mocked at, robbery seems to have become the new interna-

tional code. Rome and its environs, we are now told, are more than what

St. Peter ever possessed. Yes, it is true, much more than St. Peter ever had, for St. Peter dwelt in the catacombs, and ho lived under Nero who

caused him to die on a cross. If the catacombs (I will not call you Nero, but some Cmsar of the Lower Empire holding sway at Rome) be all that you require for this spiritual chief of the old world, for the guide of 200,000,000

of consciences, say the word. For our parts we are sure, we have no doubt whatever, that the successor of St. Peter will ba always assisted from on high, and he will know how to do his work in the catacombs, and even under the sceptre of tyrants."

The Moniteur, in all probability, speaks with some degree of truth when it says that the invasion of the Roman States was highly disap- proved by the "Government of the Emperor," if by "Government of the Emperor " it means the Foreign Department. Most people know that on this very point there has been long, a marked difference of opinion be- tween the Emperor and his Ministers; but it does not follow that his Majesty modifies his policy out of any deference towards his nominal advisers.

SDI itirrlant.—Franee and Switzerland are engaged in a squabble. A note which has been remitted by France to the Federal Council states that, independent of the insult offered to the French flag at Sion, a French subject was maltreated on that occasion. The French Cabinet claims, therefore, that a severe inquiry should be instituted on that point, and expresses a hope that the guilty parties will be punished and full satisfaction afforded to the injured party. The Federal Council has com- municated the French note to the Government of Valais, with a request that the inquiry which it had already instituted concerning the affair of the flag, should be completed by an examination of the fresh complaint on the part of France. The Federal Council has communicated its reply to the late complaint on the part of France by means of a verbal note, wherein the Federal Council expresses its regret on account of the events at Geneva, but states that they could not be considered as an interna- tional offence. This note adds that the flags of ambassadors and consuls alone are placed under the protection of international rights, but not flags hoisted on vessels or railways, where every State has the right to pro- hibit the hoisting of foreign flags. A military commission, under the Presidentship of M. Stcempfli, and of which General Dufour and the principal officers of the Swiss army form part, is sitting at Berne, to examine into the best means of securing the defence of Switzerland, particularly on the Western frontier, on the side of France.

11185i11.—The meeting at Warsaw today attracts great attention. The Emperor arrived at Wilna on the 13th, by railway. M. Kisseleff has left Paris, after interviews with the Emperor and the Papal Nuncio. The Prussian Ministers for War and Foreign Affairs will accompany the Prince Regent.

Count Rcchberg and General Crenneville will accompany Francis Joseph. It is now said to be more than doubtful whether the corps diplomatique will join the Emperor of Russia in his journey to Warsaw. The journals abound in comments, speculations, and predictions. Le Nord says-

" The more the great crisis in Italy hastens to a solution, the more is pub- lic attention drawn to the proximate meeting at Warsaw. We must warn our readers against false and premature conjectures. All that is allowed to be said as yet, without going beyond the truth, is that this event will have a decidedly pacific signification. The circumstance that the Minister of War, General de Roon, will accompany the Prince Regent to Warsaw, has given rise to all sorts of conjectures. Advices from Berlin state that it was the express wish of the Emperor Alexander that the honourable General should attend the meeting."

The St. Petersburg Gazette takes the same tone-

" If anything can be said beforehand respecting the Warsaw meeting, it is that it will tend to guard the peace of Europe from dangers and evil chances, and that its result will be an understanding at which the whole of Europe will rejoice. An understanding between Sovereigns brings nations closer together, and averts war."

The Ost Deutsche Post, which is a semi-official organ of the Austrian Government, says-

" We believe we can state that before leaving for Warsaw, the Emperor Francis Joseph will have taken decisive measures relative to the organi- zation of his empire, and especially as regards Hungary, which will prevent its being said that the interview at Warsaw influenced a posteriori the in- ternal situation of Austria."

ermang.—The continental papers contain reports of the probable steps that will be taken by Austria to establish representative institu- tions. The Paris Pays says- " We are informed in a manner almost certain that the Austrian Govern- ment has resolved to effect serious reforms in its triple system—political, financial, and administrative. The Emperor, well advised by the Archduke Maximilian, whose liberal sentiments are well known, and also by old coun- cillors of the empire, from whom he was estranged before and during the last Italian war, has caused a constitution to be prepared, which we are as- sured has for its basis the elective principles with all the consequences flowing therefrom. It is thought that the Emperor will promulgate this constitution shortly after the Warsaw meeting, without, however, the rea- lization of this great political act being in any way connected with the re- sults of that interview."

One correspondence states that the new Austrian constitution will greatly resemble that which prevailed in France from 1830 to 1848.

The Press, of Vienna, comments as follows on the numerous arrests which have lately taken place in Hungary- " In all our legislation we have not been able to find any enactment whatever which authorizes the removal of a citizen from his domicile with- out the judgment of a criminal court. It would be difficult to justify such a measure. The expulsion of a man from his place of residence to which he is bound by his private affairs and his family relations, perhaps by all his past existence, is a grave fact. . . . Forced residence in a particular

place, especially within the narrow enceinte of a fortress, to which many citizens have been subjected, greatly resembles detention ; but detention is not legal except as a penalty pronounced by justice, or whilst awaiting trial. Our criminal code, it is true, admits the provisional arrest of a person ac- cused of crime or offence, but only in virtue of an order of the judicial au- thorities of the place where the crime or offence has been committed ; and no such accusation has been made, no such order given in the cases to which

we refer Perhaps the Government, to avoid political prosecutions, at this moment has thought well to remove certain compromised persons, instead of giving them up to justice ; but such violations of the law are liable to be subjected to painful interpretations."

The Ost-Deutsche Post, of the same city, also alludes to the same sub- ject, but somewhat less boldly-

" If we desire the immediate publication of the resolutions which the Go- vernment is about to take for the organization of Austria, and particularly for Hungary, it is because time presses. We have hitherto abstained from expressing the judgment of public opinion on the arrests and the orders for forced residences in particular places, which have excited so much sur- prise ; but we have been silent -Incense we considered those measures as a temporary expedient of the Government, which occupies itself with the

great and derisive organic) laws which will ameliorate the situation both on the whole and in details. It is the more urgent that the publication of those laws should take place without delay, as the measures to which we refer cannot continue to be applied without very seriously compromising the re- putation of Austria abroad." The Trieste Gazette states that the number of persons arrested in that place on the charge of belonging to the Garibaldi recruiting committee is fifteen. Some of them are foreigners from Naples, Bari, and Mofetta. They are to be tried by a military court on the charge of recruiting for a hostile Power.

The Oesteereichishe Zeitung announces that Counts Nadasty and Thun have resolved upon quitting the Ministry. The official Prussian Gazette contains a leading article upon the inter- view at Coblentz, in which it says- ': The cordial relations which have ever existed between England and Prussia will continue to exist if the two countries do not mutually misun- derstand their true interests. These relations have become more deeply rooted, and have acquired increased firmness and extension by the conference at Coblentz, and by the ready exchange of views which then took place be- tween the leading statesmen of the two countries. In view of the present great complications in the European political system, the more satisfactory it is to be enabled to state that there was a coincidence between the views and opinions of England and Prussia on the great and important questions of the day." The article thus concludes—" While the 'Warsaw interview is a proof of the good understanding cf Prussia with her eastern neighbours, the happy results of the interview at Coblentz prove that Prussia understands how to cultivate the highly important interests by which she is bound to England." A Berlin letter writer reports " that the interview at Coblentz has proved the understanding between England and Prussia, both in the Eastern as well as the Italian questions. The Prussian note, which will shortly be sent to Turin, will be couched to the following effect. It will serve as a more detailed reply to the Sardinian memorandum of the 12th of September, which has already, perhaps, received a provisional reply. The note will allude to more recent events in support of the remon- strances of Prussia. It may be observed, that this note was drawn up after the interview. between Baron Schleinitz and Lord John Russell."

The anniversary of the battle of Leipsie was celebrated on Thursday at Vienna by divine service, the garrison of the city being present.

MlIrtgarq.—" The Protestants and Roman Catholics of Hungary continue on the best terms. The Lutherans recently held a General Assembly, and put forth their wishes for a complete restoration of their old rights and privileges ; including a demand, "That the Lutheran church, and not the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs, may determine what books shall be used in the Lutheran schools." When the eccle- siastical business was terminated, a letter from General von Benedek was read, in which the Assembly was requested to abstain from all political discussion, as the Government wished to come to an amicable under- standing with it, and that without delay. After the first sitting of the General Assembly of the Lutherans was over there was a grand dinner in the Europe Hotel at Pesth. Several. Roman Catholics of note were present at the dinner, during which some significant toasts were drunk. M. Emerich Ivanka, a thoroughbred Magyar, proposed the health of the senior superintendent, Sztromssky (a Slave), "who is a good Hungarian patriot, though he has addressed the General Assembly in the German language." The Very Reverend Superintendent Szekacs drank to Dean Danielik, "the apostle of tolera- tion." The Dean returned thanks, and expressed his surprise that the German Gustavus Adolphus Association should have determined to ren- der assistance to no Protestant communities in Hungary but those which have accepted the Imperial patent. "I am an admirer," said the eccle- siastical dignitary, " of that disinterested Christian charity which at- taches no conditions to its benefits." Before the dinner was at an end, the Protestants had drunk the health of the Prince Primate of Hungary,. of the Archbishop of Erlau, of a non-united Greek abbot who was pre- sent, and of "those distinguished patriots," M. Francis Dealt and Count Emerich Mika.

Arrests continue. Count Edward Karolyi has been arrested at Salz- burg. The Count, it may be remembered, was arrested at his château in the spring for having got up a fête in honour of Count Szechenyi. In August, having been released, he went to Ostend to join his Countess. Thence he proceeded to Paris ; and on returning to Hungary he was ar- rested. He is now a prisoner at Vienna. His wife has been ordered not to leave her house. Lasslo Imre, one of the most influential men in the comitat of Szolnok, has been arrested at Szakacs. Four other gentlemen of high standing were sought by the Austrians, but they had fled. More than 200 Hungarians are detained in the prison at Josephstadt on po- litical grounds. In the same prison a considerable number of Italians are also confined. The arrest of M. Ladislaus Decsey, the ex-Imperial Commissary for the Central Szolnok district, and of M. Emerich Lasslo, who was formerly the representative of that district, has increased the excitement in Hungary. Among other persons who have been taken into custody on the Theiss, are Messrs. Charles Hatvani and Szilegyi, two wealthy landed proprietors.

Spain.—Queen Isabella has returned to Madrid. In the Puerta del Sol, a young fellow aimed a pistol at her, but it missed fire. On her arrival, a Council was to be held to consider the propriety of recalling the Spanish Minister from Turin. The Ministerial press energetically attack the policy of Sardinia.

Judicial proceedings, have been commenced against the author of the attempt on the life of the Queen. The Man whose name is Rodrique Servia, has confessed his crime, and declared that he was employed by Nunez Pradeo, a deputy of the Cortes.

SITIkr11.-The Moniteur furnishes the latest news from Syria in a telegram from Constantinople; October 12—

"General Beaufort d'Hautpoul has militarily occupied Deir•el-Kammer- After having established a provisional municipality, and installed the Christians in the houses built by our soldiers, he advanced as far as Djieb- djemin, where be arrived on the 30th of September. On the same date, Fuad Pasha arrived at Garoun, "in the valley of Bekaa. The two com- manders-in-chief were to unite their corps-d'armte on the 2d of October?' From Beyrout, October the 8th, we learn that a disturbance has taken place at Damascus, occasioned by the levy of the war-tax. General Beaufort d'Hautpoul has distributed relief among the Christians." Much uneasiness is felt in Moldavia, Servia, and Wallachia, on account of the concentration of Russian troops in Bessarabia. The RarageorEe- witch party in Servia were fomenting agitation. The Danube and Black Sea Railway.was opened on the 4th of Octo- ber. This line starting from Tchernavoda runs to Kuatendje on the Black Sea, a distance of 40 miles. It has been made at a cost of 250,000f. It will enable the corn merchants of Wallachia and Bulgaria to save 240 miles of transit, and relieve them of the necessity of incurring the dangers of Sulina bar. The port of Rustendje is to be im- proved by the construction of a mole, and ships will receive their car- riages from the railway platform. A correspondent of. the Times, present at the opening ceremony, writea-

" At ten o'clock this morning, Ethem Pasha, the Commissioner sent to represent his Majesty the Sultan on the occasion, arrived at the station, where there was a train in readiness to convey his Excellency and suite and all invited to be present at the opening of the line from Tchernavoda. Before getting into the carriage, the Imperial Commissioner addressed the crowd assembled to witness the departure of the train. He stated that he had, in conjunction with the Council of Public Works, inspected the line on the previous day ; that, although the stations and other necessary build- ings were not yet finished, the work had, nevertheless, been so well and sa- tisfactorily executed as to warrant the declaration, which he had much pleasure in making, that the line was now formally placed at the disposition of the public. A prayer was then offered up by an imaum in attendance for the purpose, at the conclusion of which a general rush was made for the carriages. Far from displaying any reluctance to intrust their lives to the discretion of the snorting and apparently restless monster about to convey us over forty miles of country at an unheard-of pace, and with whose nature and instincts they were so little acquainted, the people were with difficulty restrained from taking forcible possession of the train. A part of the cere- mony yet remained to be performed. Before the engine started, two luckless sheep were dragged forward, and underwent the process of having their throats cut, one on each of the rails over which the engine would pass. The blood of these first victims to rapid locomotion had an ugly appearance as it lay sprinkled over the line. It tended, nevertheless, to reassure some of the Pasha's attendants, who did not seem to partake of the general eagerness to possess themselves of their seats. On the strength of this propitiatory of- fering, they composed their countenances and hoped for the best, though one might see that their faith was sorely tried by the effort. We stopped for some minutes at Medjidieh, a large village, rather more than half way along the line, which the recent Tartar immigration has increased, in appearance, at least, to the proportions of a town. Here large numbers of people were assembled to witness our arrival, and a strange and motley assemblage it looked. The distinctive features and costumes of the different races— Turks, Greeks, Albanians, Bulgarians, and several varieties of Tartars, among whom many of the women wore large rings in their noses—might be noted at a glance ; nor did the discharging of the carriages detract from the effect. There were naval, military, consular, or other uniforms of almost every nation of Europe to be seen on the platform. What struck me, too, at first sight, was the number of Englishmen wearing the uniforms of offi- cers in the army. One could almost have imagined the Crimean war had broken out anew. I took to inquiring, and the illusion vanished. The gen- tlemen were no more officers in her Majesty's army than I am. With the exception of Major Stokes, of the Engineers, one of our Danubian Commis- sioners, not one of the martial-looking personages who had caught my eye was, as far as I could ascertnin, entitled to the uniform he wore. The con- ceit is a harmless one in Turkey, and, no doubt, the gentlemen in question would manifest far too much respect for their characters to sport their red coats and striped trousers on the platform of the Paddington or EustonSquare station.

" On arriving at Tchernavoda, we found a luncheon prepared in one of the corn warehouses newly built by the company on the bank of the Danube. These warehouses, handsomely built of stone, are three in number, of which one alone is as yet nearly finished. They are of uniform size and contain three floors apiece. When completed, they will be capable of containing altogether 80,000 quarters of wheat, the greater portion of which may be shot directly into the company's trucks in a very short apace of time. This desideratum is, of course, effected by means of trams, on which the trucks run right under the centres of the various compartments of the granary."

After luncheon, the party returned to Kusteridge and dined there, toasting the Sultan, the Queen, and the railway company.

CO it 1.—AdviCes have been received from the Peiho to the 12th of August, and very full letters to the 9th. From these we learn that the Allied fleets weighed anchor on the 26th of July, and were off the bar of the Peiho on the evening of the $7th. But the forces were not able to land until the let of August, and then the troops had to flounder through banks of mud. It is recorded that the men took off their lower clothing, and one brigadier led on his men in his shirt. Pehtang was selected as the leading place. An equal force of French and English disembarked, and were posted on the causeway leading to the town, mud being the element on each side. That night they bivouacked on the causeway. Mr. Parkes, who had joined the force, went into Pehtang. He found the forts unoccupied, and the guns on the walls were wooden dummies ! A Chinaman showed him the spots where the Tartar garrison had placed mines.

The forts were soon occupied by the Allies, and the mines dug out. Then it was found absolutely necessary to quarter the troops in the town. This led to the infliction of great suffering on the inhabitants. who were obliged to withdraw, and many killed themselves and their wives and daughters. The Coolies plundered the place, and those who were caught were punished. Sir Hope Grant rigorously inflicted punish- ment on our men detected plundering, but the temptation was great, for the French made no scruple of supplying themselves with everything eatable. On the 3d and 4th, reconnaissances in force were made towards the forts at Taku, twelve miles distant, and some skirmishing took place. It is understood that the force moved out of Pehtang on the 10th, and that, on the 12th, they attacked and carried the Tartar camp; on the 15th, they were to assault the forts of Taku.

It is remarkable that the Pehtang people, complaining of the miseries they bad to endure, bemoaned their hard fate in having to suffer for " a Taku affair."

The Patric states that Mr. Bruce, the English Minister in China, had received a despatch announcing that the Emperor of China would be disposed to conclude 'peace with the Allies after the capture of the Peiho forts.

The rebels are growing bold. They attacked Shanghai on the 18th of August, but were repulsed with artillery,. They had posted up a pro- clamation announcing their coming, and threatening vengeance unless the city submitted to them. The foreign residents formed a volunteer

corps. The greatest alarm prevailed. Trade was entirely stopper'. From Canton comes similar news to the 24th. It is that, " the principal passes being in the hands of the rebels, trade was fettered."

f la Sralank.—Advices from Taranaki to the 4th of August. No- thing had been done- " Major Nelson remains encamped within artillery range of the pah that was so unsuccessfitlly attacked, and occasionally throws a shell or two into it, much to the discomfort of the occupants, who, when they see one coming, evacuate the place and take to the shelter of the fern. For all that, how- ever, they are neither disheartened nor idle. They have taken advantage of the respectful distance at which their assailants keep to make a forward movement in the way of fortification, and have built two new paha between their old post and the camp. They seem thoroughly to comprehend the value of these extemporaneous earthworks, and to be animated by the genius of some native Todtleben, if we may judge from the zeal with which they multiply them at all available points. On the Tataraimaka block, which is in another quarter, and to the southward of the town, they have built no fewer than ten pahs, all pretty close together, and each capable of holding 100 men. Indeed, they claim to have reconqucred this block, and are said to have gone so far as to apportion it out among themselves for cultivation. With growing confidence, the natives are assuming more and more of an offensive attitude. They are beginning to destroy farm property, which they had hitherto respected—to burn the homesteads, and drive off the cattle; and they have made a more daring approach to the town than they had previously attempted. On the morning of the 4th of August, an alarm was given that the natives were approaching the town. The women and children rushed to the barracks for protection, and for a moment there was quite a panic. The natives, however, did not come nearer than a mile, and contented themselves with plundering some suburban houses, and stripping the lead from the roof of one house, evidently for the purpose of making bullets."

General Pratt landed at Taranaki on the 4th. As a counter-move to anything like a general confederacy among the tribes, and in order to prevent those uncommitted to the strife from being brought into sym- pathy with it, the Governor sought a conference with the chiefs who could be brought together, and sent a steamboat to fetch as many as would come to the place Of meeting, near Auckland. Above a hundred chiefs, according to the New Zealander, answered his appeal. The Native secretary, Mr. M`Lean, having elicited their general views on the land and war questions, urged upon them the necessity of great caution with respect to the definition of boundaries, so as to prevent future quarrels. " The whole matter should be most carefully considered in their several tribes. There were some of them who blamed the Government for pur- chasing native lands for a small sum and re-selling them at a comparatively high rate to Europeans. But as he had always been careful to explain in all the purchases he had effected, the land was of little value in itself until English capital was expended upon it in the construction of roads, bridges, and other material improvements, without which there was little chance of their being able to take their produce to a profitable market. Land, again, was of little value where there was not a dense population to set as the consumers of its produce. While the natives were paid for their land, and the Provisional Government was at the expense of having the land so bought surveyed and divided, it awarded to each immigrant a certain pro- portion of land in exchange for his passage money from England, and thus gave a value to otherwise waste lands, and induced a large flow of con- sumers for the products of Maori as well as European cultivation. This practical argument was well understood by the Southern chiefs, many of whose 'reserves' have risen to a value in consequence of the influx of European population, which has made them men of considerable wealth. They have given their northern countrymen the benefit of their experience ; and-the consequence is that the wisdom of selling their surplus land is a question that is most eagerly discussed each night in the respective hapus or cantonments. Nor do the native representatives satisfy themselves with talking over this and other matters; not a post departs without their sending to their constituents ' copious reports of what had transpired in conference. In fact, in more ways than one, all the most intelligent young chiefs are manifesting their determination to qualify themselves for ad- mission, on terms of thorough equality, into the colonial legislature. In this light, the present conference may be fairly regarded as a most effective training school in legislation ; and the Maori delegates now assembled have more than once given expression to their strong desire to have the con- ference made a periodical gathering to be held alternately in the north and south of the colony."

2.1I51fa119.—In Sydney, from which we have advices up to the 21st of August, the attention of the inhabitants is directed to the defences of the country. A great meeting had been held, to call upon the Govern- ment to embody a militia, and, at Randwish a rifle corps had been formed. The Commercial lank had declared 15 per cent dividend, and the Australian Bank are at 10 per cent.

A Ministerial crisis prevailed at Melbourne ' - the last phase of which seems to point to the reinstalment of Mr. Nicholson.

The Volunteer movement has sprung up in Australia with great force. The Legislature has sanctioned the enrolment of 10,000 men, if neces- sary. Numbers have joined. In consequence of the departure of the troops to New Zealand, all the Government buildings are protected by Volunteer sentries. Many Volunteers had offered their services for New Zealand.