NEWS OF THE WEEK.

T" latest story from Germany informs us that Austria and Prussia have arranged their differences, that Prussia still de- mands compensations, and that the chances of the Oldenburg family are improving. This means that the Duke of Oldenburg is to be acknowledged Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, resigning his ancient territories to Prussia, which thus obtains a considerable accession of territory, the great Bay of Jahde on the German Ocean, and a good many scattered positions from which to organize arrange- ments for the absorption of the remainder of Northern Germany. The people of the Duchies are not, it appears, to be consulted as to this arrangement, the liberty they obtain by their revolt against Denmark consisting chiefly in the right of paying double taxes. The little Powers, utterly enraged at this arrangement have, it is said, put forward Wurtemburg to propose the union of all the lesser States of Germany into a single power, with rights and obli- gations atsembling those of its two great rivals. This is the well- known Triad scheme which we described a fortnight since, and which we think cannot succeed, the States being unwilling to em- ploy physical force, while the despotisms like nothing better than an appeal to the bayonet.

An able letter in another column points out very forcibly the finesse—to call it by no stronger term—of which the Bishop of Oxford has been guilty in relation to his recent reluctant admis- sion, on which we commented at some length last week, of a "human element" in the Scriptures. He has tried to withdraw that admission—bare as it was—in a letter to Mr. Christopher, without affirming in name the theory of "verbal inspiration." A gentleman who was himself present at the Congress, and on whom we can fully rely, informs us that the account given in the Bishop's letter to Mr. Christopher "differs from what I heard him say in the Conference, inasmuch as it omits the following most important sentence which I give from memory Surrounding the message given to the messengers there may be some pointa on which the messengers could speak on their own authority, and in these matters, which would not in the least affect the force or authority of the message given, it is obvious that there might be even direct error." This is the statement from which the Bishop of Oxford now wants to withdraw his authority. We do not believe it to be an adequate statement of the great part played by the "human element" in Scripture, but it doubtless represents the Bishop of Oxford's real view, which he only desires now to cloud over in order to maintain his alliance with the R,ecordites and the literal meaning of the Jesuitical Oxford Declaration.

The news from America is scanty, and chiefly through Con- federate sources, but it makes the possession of the great bay or harbour of Mobile by the Federals certain, though no attempt had at the last advices been made on the strong defences of Mobile itself at the head of that bay. The entrance to Mobile Bay is divided by some small islands, the chief of which is Dauphin Island ;—the entrance to the west of it being -called Grant's Pass, commanded by Fort Powell, and that to the east, the prin- cipal entrance, being commanded by Fort Gaines cn the island, and Fort Morgan opposite it on the mainland. On the 5th of August Admiral Farragut with his fleet ran the gauntlet of Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines into the bay, having also effected a land- ing on Dauphin Island. He captured the Confederate iron- clads Tennessee and Selma, with Admiral Buchanan, who was on board the former ; the Gaines was beached, and only one 'Con- federate vessel (the Morgan) left uncaptured, which took refuge- probably in the river. The monitors bombarded Fort Powell', which was abandoned and blown up by General Maury on the' evening of the 5th, thus leaving Grant's Pass open. On the 8th Fort Gaines at the eastern extremity of Dauphin Island surren- dered,—treacherously according to the Confederate account which is not quite consistent with itself, Colonel Anderson having treated with the enemy and surrendered against the orders of his superior officer in Fort Morgan. Fort Morgan will doubtless soon be reduced, and Mobile Bay thus completely commanded, but the attack on Mobile itself will be a matter of probably much greater difficulty. The Confederates, says M. Reuter, had "captured a pilot-boat" off Sandy Hook.

Lord Palmerston paid on Tuesday his promised visit to Tiverton, where he was most warmly received by his constituents, whom he complimented in return on "the numbers and good looks of the rising generation," and on the magnificent weather, which he. apparently thought was due like the children to the credit of the- people of Tiverton. His Lordship's speech at the banquet was unusually grave, being a review and defence of his policy through- out the past session, particularly in the selection of bishops and the management of foreign affairs. We have commented upon it in another place, but may add here that the French papers accept his speech as ultra-pacific, and consider that Lord Palmerston has formally accepted the policy of selfishness and isolation. The only ground for this idea seems to be one of those sentences which English statesmen always utter, that "it is the duty of Government to keep the country at peace so long as it can do so without sacrificing its honour, its dignity, and its interests." As its honour requires the maintenance of treaties, its dignity attention to its counsels, and its interests the spread of moderated freedom, this assurance is not very abjectly peaceful.

Lord Palmerston also made one of his amusing speeches to the racing gentlemen of Tiverton and the neighbourhood on Wednesday last. After attending the races he dined at the race ordinary at the Three Tuns, and after dinner his health was drunk and a wish expressed that for "at least twenty years to come" Lord Pal- merston might be able to visit Tiverton and give his support "to. the cause of racing," Lord Palmerston replied to the toast by allegorizing it, and intimating that while he continued to struggle with an Opposition in Parliament he was in fact supporting this great "cause." The House of Commons, he said, very much resembles a racecourse. "All parties go there and run for the Queen's Plate. It is a general sweepstakes, and more than one takes the stakes if he wins." The rules, too, are similar, "for there is that good feeling in the House of Commons which gives weight for age." The young ones are very apt "to bolt out of the course," and a very good-looking horse often breaks down. The chief difference is that in a "dead heat," or in Parliamentary language "a tie," it is not run again, but the umpire gives it for which horse he chooses. The racing allegory natu- rally gave great delight, and it is certain that an eighty- year-old will be the favourite among men of all parties in,, the neighbourhood of Tiverton for a long time to come. For the Premier to reserve his best jokes of all for the private benefit of Tiverton was an act of delicate generosity to his constituents, the more grateful to them as there is no political reason for paying them any sp2cial attention.

In the same speech Lord Palmerston mentioned incidentally an interesting fact concerning hi.* Irish estate. He had, he said, 1.000 acres of blowing sand there, "where no blade of grass grew," and "now, in consequence of having assiduously planted that sand with bent, which dies away after it has come to a certain growth, and is followed by grass, I have succeeded in covering the whole of thatbarren spot with grass." Lord Palmerston may well, like Tenny- son's Northern Farmer of the Old Style, claim a rivalry in bene- ficence even with the clergy themselves. "A reads wonn sarmin a wee-A ; an' I 'a stubb'd Thornaby waitste." The Times publishes a very unpleasant statement, an analysis of a report by Dr. E. Smith, a physician selected by the Privy Council to inquire into the cottage dietaries of the Empire. He reports that a man wants on an average 28,600 grains of carbon and 1,330 grains of nitrogen per diem. Only one class of opera- tives get enough nitrogen, and as to carbon a fifth of all agricul- tural labourers have too little, while it is probable that among the women the proportion is much greater. In Berkshire, Somerset- shire, and Oxfordshire, the people have not enough of either kind. The lords of the land on which these people live are the richest and happiest class which ever existed in history. Yet if we are to believe the Times, Lord Palmerston, and the old Liberals generally, there is nothing remaining to be accomplished. "Everybody in this country" said the Premier at Tiverton "is alive." Quite true, but is every man who will work fed? Science says he isn't, and we suppose somebody with 10,0001. a year will next week expose The "exaggerations of scientific philanthropy."

The Belfast riots ended on Saturday, the rioters having become weary of outrages committed with such perfect impunity. Up to the last moment neither magistracy, soldiers, nor police did any- thing whatever to punish the ruffians engaged, the Government remained quiescent, and the respectable inhabitants went about entreating people not to order inhabitants of a different creed to abandon their houses. Many such orders, however, were given and obeyed, the Sandy Row mob being of opinion that they were con- taminated by Catholics living near them, and the Pound gang thinking themselves purer if Protestants moved away. Nobody has been punished for assault, not even the men who fired on the dock- yard labourers struggling in the mud, and that atrocity has been described by an Orangeman in a hymn of triumph. The Whig, a journal which takes the side of Christianity and civilization against

both mobs, declares that 148 gunshot wounds have been treated (by the surgeons, and it is known that many outrages have been

concealed from fear of the consequences of giving evidence, a fear -which reduces the inquest now holding to a perfect farce. It appears clear that in Belfast the law is not strong enough to punish the murderers on either side, that is, Belfast has ceased to belong to the list of civilized cities.

On Monday evening the Marquis of Donegal, who is Lord- Lieutenant of Antrim, made a speech at the Freemasons' celebra- tion in which he distinctly charged the magistracy of Belfast with holding back from their duties in suppressing the late riots. The Mayor, he said, had keft the town after the disturbances broke out, and not again returned to it, and with some noble exceptions the magistrates generally had rather shirked their duties. The asser- tion that the Mayor quitted Belfast after the riots commenced was denied by a friend, but the Marquis of Donegan evidently still believed what he had asserted, stating that he would at once with- draw the accusation if the Mayor could show that he had been absent from the commencement. The Marquis of Donegall, we have no doubt, believes that partizan feeling paralyzed the magis- trates in their suppression of the riots. It seems that there is already one stipendiary magistrate in Belfast who is not a mere judge, but has power like the unpaid magistrates to take active measures for the peace of the town,—to call out the military and give them power to act. We conclude, however, that he is too much under the influence of his unpaid brother magistrates to act independently. What is wanted is some officer for Belfast, higher in position than any magistrate, expressly appointed for such occasions as these, and empowered to assume for himself all the powers for the preservation of peace vested in the magistrates on such an emergency. The Lord-Lieutenant, Lord Chancellor, and Chief Secretary were away from Dublin, the Under-Secretary, Sir Thomas Larcom, left it to the people on the spot, and the people on the spot in their half-sympathy with the Orange mob left it to Sir Thomas Larcom. As the magistrates have shirked their duty they should have some one over them provided especially for such emergencies on occasion of the next outbreak.

The spirit of rioting appears to be spreading. Two outbreaks are reported during the week in two of the quietest places in Europe—Geneva and Jersey. In Geneva the people elected one M. Cheneviere, a Conservative, their representative to the Executive Council, whereupon M. Fazy, so long Radical Dictator of the town, instigated the Electoral bureau to annul the election. The Conservatives rose, but the ruling faction appealed to the central authority, and a brigade of troops restored order without bloodshed. In Jersey a lecturer proposed to examine the doctrine of the real presence in a hostile sense, and the Catholics tried to silence him, pulled up benches, and even threatened his life. The

chief constable, however, decided that religious liberty was the principle of Jersey, quelled the riot with his police, gave the lecturer fall protection, and insisted on the lectures proceeding, which they did amid perfect order. He should be made Special Commissioner of Belfast.

The Portadown News, a little Orange paper published in Armagh, narrates a scene in the parish of Drumcree which ex- plains better than anything we have lately read the origin of the Belfast riots. The daughter of Mr. Alexander, Rector of Drunrcree, some years ago married a Mr. Rollinson, a curate, and she and her husband subsequently became Roman Catholics. Last week, being on a visit to the rector, the pair on Sunday attended service in the chapel of their own creed, whereupon the leading Protestants called upon the rector and ordered him to send away his daughter and her husband under penalty of his house being wrecked. The spokesmen declared the visit of two Romanists to their own chapel an outrage on the parish, and so fierce was the feeling that Mr. Alexander was compelled to yield, and banish his daughter and son-in-law from his house, and the paper praises the conduct of the people. When religious animosity has risen to that height it is time for secular authority to step in and secure the religious liberty which both parties claim and both so consistently refuse. In Drimicree a "pervert," it appears, must be driven from his father's house, in Kilkenny a " convert " runs the risk of stoning in the streets. The only course for decent people is to keep both creeds under with the strong hand, and ensure a little decency on earth even at the price of imperilling their entrance into heaven.

The Marquis of Hartington has addressed his constituents in North Laneashire in a somewhat poverty-stricken speech. The only notable points in it were a statement that Parliament would be dissolved towards the end of next Session, and an avowal that he thought peace and a just administration of the law all that any interest in the country really wished for. "I do not think that at this time there are any very great legislative enactments re- quired ; all that we have to do is to labour conscientiously and diligently, to distribute the taxation of the country and the bur- dens of the country, which we all agree somebody has to bear, fairly and equitably among the different interests." We are then to reckon Lord Hartingt,on among the pseudo-Liberals who, with Ireland half in revolt, half our population eating, Dr. Smith says, leas than the healthy quantity of food, all agricultural labourers bound to the soil by a law of settlement, and our great cities dis- organized encampments of brick, think that the work of construc- tion is over, and we have only to repair the paint. Can none of these men distinguish between a momentary lull and a miraculous

extinction of the winds? • The annual report of the Registrar-General reveals to the public the unexpected fact that scurvy is still a prevalent disease among sailors. In the Royal Navy it may be said to be extinct, but in the merchant service many owners are too mean to allow a suffi- ciency either of lime-juice or vegetables, and "of the men received into the Sailors' Home, Poplar, about half are suffering from scurvy, and of these perhaps a twentieth part are seriously diseased." The Liverpool ships are peculiarly discredited,—out of 86 cases treated in the Dreadnought 14 came from London, 31 from foreign ports, and 21 from Liverpool alone. The owners must lose from the disease five times the cost of its preventives, but the system of neglect continues, and captains who are always asking for "comforts" soon become unpopular.

The Lord Mayor of York, like emperors and other great person- ages, is very tenacious of his dignity. He has recently lodged before the Commander-in-Chief a formal complaint against Colo- nel Dickson and the officers of the 16th Lancers for insult to him- self and want of discipline in the town. The insult it seems con- sisted in the officers forgetting to call at the Mansion House, and inviting his Lordship to a ball without enclosing cards ! The want of discipline in the town was shown by frequent " rows " between the soldiery and the police, originating, the Lord Mayor thinks, in the dislike of the officers to himself. Colonel Dickson replies that the omission of the call was an accident, and the invi- tation a compliment, which disposes of the charge of insult, and a memorial was signed by most of the leading citizens rebutting that of want of discipline. The poor Lord Mayor therefore is in- formed' that the conduct of the regiment has not justified his charges, and is obliged to be content without extorting a call by the authority of the Horse Guards. He must be a very unenergetic person. Why did he not have Colonel Dickson escorted to the Mansion House by a couple of police, compelled by a beadle to

produce his card, and ordered to bow under penalty of three days on the treadmill? That would have been at least as dignified a course as a formal complaint to head-quarters about a trivial eti- quette, and might have been efficacious besides. Colonel Dickson would have had his action, but it must be pleasanter for a Lord Mayor to pay a fine and have his revenge than be the laughing- stock of all England and not have it.

We have had a" prairie fire" in England. Last week Woohner Forest, a valuable forest belonging chiefly to Government, was dis- covered to be on fire. The fire originated in the peat, but spread to the trees, and continued to rage for seven days, burning the -woods, the cottages in them, and the very soil. The wild animals ran out of the forest in scores, and a dozen hares were found in one spot all roasted to death, the flame having apparently fright- ened them into a heap. It was necessary at last to send troops to the spot, and nearly 1,000 men were employed in digging broad trenches round the forest so as to prevent the spread of the flames. The heat was extraordinary, and it was feared at one time that the little village of Liss would be consumed ; as it is, the fire has com- pletely devastated a space of seven square miles.

The Consells-Generaux of France have commenced their sittings, and three or four Ministers have taken advantage of the occasion to make speeches. M. Rouher informed the Council of the Puy de Dome that a law would shortly appear conceding to the Councils entire authority over departmental affairs, a statement confirmed by M. Rouland addressing the Council of Rouen. M. Behic at Marseilles announced that customs would soon be assessed only in accordance with the wants of the revenue,—a death-blow to pro- tection, and that Government intended to bring forward a com- mercial code,—a work urgently required all over Europe. The speech of speeches, however, seems to have been that of M. de Persigny. That gentleman, the most honest and the most indis- creet of Bonapartists, told his astounded hearers that Napoleon III. was the founder of liberty in France, that the political institutions of England were not adapted for France, as authority and liberty could not there be entrusted to a class, and that before the liberty of the press could be a benefit "a new, vigorous, and independent generation must arise to replace minds enervated by revolutions." In short, M. de Persigny has embraced an opinion of some antiquity —that it is not safe to enter the water until one has learned to swim.

On Monday, the 15th of August, the American frigate Niagara captured twenty miles off Lisbon the quondam Confederate ship called the Georgia, but now sold to a British owner, Mr. E. Bates, shipowner of Liverpool, and sailing apparently on a bond Ale commercial voyage under the British flag. Some intricate legal questions will arise as to the legality of this capture. There is no doubt that a few weeks ago she would have been a law- ful prize, and it is by no means clear that she is not so even now, nor that the purchase from the Confederate Government was a legal one at all. No doubt a long controversy will arise out of it.

On Thursday week Dr. Ullathorne, the Roman Catholic Bishop, consecrated a new church in Leamington, when Dr. Manning, "Pro- tonotary Apostolic of the Papal Court in Rome," preached the ser- mon, attributing all our present theological difficulties in the Pro- testant Church to the rejection of the authority of Rome at the time of the Reformation, in which, no doubt he is right. The exercise of our own souls on these high questions even with the pro- foundest deference to divine teaching does give rise to a host of difficulties,—as a child learning to walk has great difficulties, which he would not experience if he would always remain in his nurse's arms. At the subsequent meeting Dr. Ullathorne paid great compliments to Dr. Manning, speaking of him as the inter- preter of Roman Catholic truths to the untrained minds of English Protestants. To many perhaps it may be so. We should have thought that his influence was likely to be far inferior to Dr. Newman's, but perhaps the latter's genius is really too original to render him a trustworthy exponent of an infallible Church.

Sir John Trelawny made a vast speech to his constituents at Tavistock on Wednesday week, which has given rise to much subsequent discussion on the waning dogma of the ballot. M r. H. Berkeley, its chosen champion, finds a curious argument for it in Mr. Coleridge's recent defeat at Exeter. Why a man who is defeated because he is not against Church-rates, should be elected if voting were secret, it is difficult to say. At all events men who dare not declare their creed ought not to be voters at all. A con- fession of his political faith is in the long run probably far the most important element in an elector's political influence.

The Wanganui Maories have a strange superstition. It is said that they drank the blood of Captain Lloyd who was killed in a recent engagement, then cut off and buried his head. In the next night the Archangel Gabriel appeared to them, desired them to disinter and dry it, that it might become the medium of com- munication between God and themselves. This, it is said, they did, and the head utters oracles. The word " hou," it says, barked out sharply, will ward off all danger, even a bullet or a sword's point. The head has promised them the Virgin Mary for a pro- tectress, and also to teach them perfectly any foreign language in one lesson,—a feat of cramming not yet promised even by our English magicians in the advertisements of the Tinier. The head is also to ensure them victory, but not till it has visited every part of the island, and when will that be?

An earthquake was felt in Lewes at about half-past one a.m. on Monday morning last, which much alarmed the inhabitants and induced one poor woman to cry out for the police. It does not appear to have been felt elsewhere, so that the direction of the wave is unknown. Places near the sea almost always feel earthquakes more than inland countries, and Lewes must, we suppose, have been situated near to the top of a vibration which grew weaker as it got further inland.

Bishop Elliott, of the Confederate States, seems to have gone through a very melodramatic ceremony in burying the Right Reverend Lieutenant-General Polk, who was recently killed in the Georgian campaign. At the close of the burial service he left his desk, and turning his face to the North solemnly summoned such of the bishops and clergy of the North as have urged on the war to meet him at the bar of Judgment, proceeding, "In the name of the episcopal office of the dead ; in the name of the blood that, like that of Abel, called aloud from the ground for vengeance on those who lend the sanction of the Church to this crusade ; in the name of desolated homes and blackened roof-trees, of desecrated churches, of altars profaned, and the Holy Sacrament trampled in the mire ; in the name and by the authority of God, and by the enchanting spell-word evoked from the presence of the mangled and martyred dead. And God have mercy upon them in that day 1" What was the "enchanting spell-word evoked from the presence of the mangled and martyred dead" we do not comprehend. The only "spell-word" to which we have ever heard either the statesmen or warriors of the South appeal is "the Great Corner Stone Slavery." And there is probably no other word which a Southerner would put as a climax in such an invocation above even the sacred name itself.

The "Haymarket Act" closing all refreshment-houses between one and four is being worked a little too strictly. It falls with great severity on printers, whose labour usually terminates just before three a.m., and who then like other human beings want something to eat and drink. No exception is, however, made in favour of the houses thet frequent, and Alderman Waterlow says they can easily keep all they want in their printing-offices. We wonder if the Alderman would enjoy his champagne equally if it were kept standing four hours in the glass in an over-lighted room, or enjoy his supper quite as much if compelled to eat it amidst the crowd of his court. The Act is a good Act, but there are decent people even among innkeepers.

On Saturday last Consols closed at 89 f f for money, and 89f f for account. Yesterday they left off at 88f 89 for transfer, and 89f f for time. The stock of bullion in the Bank of England is 12,831,7511.

The following table shows the closing prices of the leading Foreign Securities yesterday and on Friday week :—

Friday, August 19, Friday, Aug. 26 Greek . •. .. 231 .. 23i , Mexican Turkish 8 per Cents., ISLA.. .. .. .. 72 Spanish Passive • .

Do. Coupons ••

Do. Certihcates .. .. .. ..

.,, Consolides.. .. .. .. ..• se

1882.. .. .. .. 69 .. — .. — .. 28

.. 30 .... ro t

121 .. .. — ..

ssi aoi

13

The leading British Railways yesterday and on Friday week left off at the following prices: — Caledonian Great Eastern •• •• Great Northern ..

Great Western.. ..

Lancashire and Yorkshire London and Brighton .. London and North-Western London and South-Western London, Chatham, and Dover Midland ..

North-Eastern, Berwick ..

Do. York .. Westlii4Jand, Oxford -. Friday, August 10. Friday. Aug. 26 ..: 186 .. 12G 132

471132

89 •• .. 474 183 117i .., .16 118 102 117 .. 1 04 .. 41 41 157 .. 168 108 .. 106

93

42 .. 44t 084 ..

00