OUR LONDON LETTER.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 239, 16 March 1875, Page 3

OUR LONDON LETTER.

{From the Press.) London, January 22nd, 1875. I never recollect the saying, “ misfortunes never come singly,” being so painfully exemplified as during this Christmas week. Horror succeeded horror with appalling rapidity. First, a railway accident on the Great Western, with a death list of over thirty; then countless casualties at sea and upon the ice; then another railway accident, which, by comparison, seemed a trifle —merely nineteen injured ; and then the climax was reached when the news of the burning of the Cospatrick, and the harrowing details given by the three survivors, sent a thrill of horror throughout England. Concerning this latter calamity, which must have a peculiarly painful interest for New Zealand, you will have received detailed accounts via San Francisco, before this reaches you. I may add, however, that a telegram from Madeira, dated 15th instant, states that nothing more has been heard of any further survivors being picked up. The subscriptions for the relief of the aged and dependent relatives of the ill-fated ship, amounts up to the present to £3192, including £IOOO subscribed by the Government of New Zealand, Mr. Gladstone has definitively announced his retirement from the leadership of the Liberal party. “ At the age of sixty-five, says Mr Gladstone, in the notification of his intention to Lord Granville, “ and after forty-two years of a laborious public life, I think myself entitled to retire on the present opportunity. The retirement is dictated to me by my personal views as to the best method of spending the closing years of my life,” These “personal views” seem to point to theology and literature, for Mr Gladstone’s avowed intention is to devote himself to these two pursuits. He is even now, he states, engaged on a special matter which occupies him closely, doubtless another rod in pickle for the Pope. The right hon gentleman is, it is thought, riding his recently mounted hobby a little too hard. He contributes to the Quarterly Review an essay on “ Speeches of Pope Pius 1X.,” a subject hardly worthy of a great statesman’s pen ; for the speeches which form the text of the essay are only those delivered since October, 1870, when Rome was absorbed into the Italian Kingdom, and what is called the captivity of the Holy Father commenced ; consequeutly, they are little more than the somewhat querulous utterances of an octogenarian, dilating on his wrongs. The essayist is hard on his Holiness concerning his maledictions and bad language. If the Pope is, as Mr Gladstone says, given to cursing his enemies, the right honorable gentleman himself must have been of late a frightful cause of what he deprecates so bitterly. Though Mr Gladstone retires from his conspicuous political position, his voice may yet be heard in Parliament on such measures as he may deem of sufficient importance to draw him temporarily from his retirement. The question now arises who is to succeed to the leadership of the Liberal party. Lord Granville will doubtless lead the Liberals in the House of Lords, but who is to control the Opposition in the House of Commons is not so easily settled. Mr Lowe is the cleverest, man left of his party, but his well known faculty of setting everyone by the ears, friends as well as foes, puts him out of the race altogether, and the choice lies between Mr Forster and the Marquis of Hartington, who, as only holding by courtesy the second title of his father, the Duke of Devonshire, has no seat in the Upper House. The outsiders are Sir Vernon Harcourt, Mr Goschen, and Mr Childers, one of whom, as is often the case with an outsider, may come to the front. But this is not likely, and it is more than probable that the Marquis of Hartington’s position as the future head of one of the great Whig families will turn the scale in his favor. It is a question which of the two Houses, the Upper or Lower, is the better sphere for the leader of a party. A few hold that from the calmer region of the House of Lords a cooler and more dispassionate view of affairs is to be obtained, but it has been generally conceded that the House of Commons, as being nearer the mind of the nation through its chosen representatives, is the proper place for a party leader. Lord Granville, however, is so pre-eminently fitted for the leadership of his party that he will without doubt take the supreme lead of the Opposition, no matter who may lead in the House of Commons. The session commences on the sth proximo, and business is expected to proceed with tolerable smoothness. Joint Stock Company swindling is very fashionable at present, and the public, through the medium of a court of law, has just been afforded an insight into the modus operands of some of these social robbers, whose trade it is to “ float ” these sham companies. A trial of an action for libel, which for ten days has occupied the attention of the court, and created a great sensation, particularly in city circles, has just been concluded. The plaintiff was a young Englishman of the name of Rubery, the dupe of certain American sharpers who pretended to have discovered a diamond mine in Colorado, and the defendants were Mr Sampson, until recently the writer of the money article in the Times , who in exposing the above fraud reflected in the strongest terms on Rubery’s character, and Baron Albert Grant, a well known financier, alleged to be a party to to these publications. Baron Grant is also known to fame as the munificent donor to the metropolis of Leicester Square, beautified and adorned at his own expense. The pretended discovery of the diamond mines with which the too-trusting Rubery was mixed up was pronounced by the New York press to have been “ the biggest swindle ever exposed in America.” Rough diamonds were bought in London and Paris, with which the field in Colerado was “ salted.” Rubery, accepting an invitation to accompany an expedition to inspect the precious spot, soon found himself picking up diamonds until, as he said, he “grew tired of looking for them,” and, believing them to be native to the soil, became at once a profound believer in the genuineness of the concern, and, with many others on the opposite side of the Atlantic, an easy victim to the conspiracy. The jury found against the defendant Sampson, acquitting Baron Grant of any participation in the the libel, and awarded £SOO damages to Mr Rubery. It is only fair to the Times to add that the articles in question, though pronounced libellous in a court of law, saved many of our countrymen from becoming victims to the fraud, for preparations were being made to include this country in the operation of the swindlers, when the English public was placed on its guard by the appearance of these articles. In refreshing contrast to all this overreaching and rascality, which the investigation of the above case has

brought to light, is the following instance of pure unostentatious benevolence. Benjamin Attwood during his life time was probably known to his own circle of friends as a kindly hearted gentleman and successful merchant—nothing more. But now after his death, which happened a short time ago, he is known to all his countrymen as one of the greatest public benefactors on record. It was his custom to forward anonymously to the Governors of different charitable institutions large sums of money, generally £IOOO, and in this unassuming way of doing good he spent the enormous amount of £375,000, It is strange his secret never oozed out during his lifetime. It was not known even to his dearest friends, and to have thus for years concealed his benevolence he must have observed as much caution as the felon who strives to hide his guilt. Of public benefactors there is no dearth amongst us, but with many, it is to be feared, that selfish considerations enter largely into their calculation. One gentleman who has lately been prominently before the public as a frequent benefactor, and whose charities and gifts generally command leading articles in all the papers, offered to bet the other day, in a post-prandial burst of confidence, that he would be made a peer before two years were out. This sort of munificence is with many an indirect way of purchasing a title. Not of such gross stuff was Benjamin Attwood made. The Lord Mayor of London has returned to us, after creating, with his sheriffs, his magnificent equipages, his mace-bearer, and all the paraphernalia of hisoffice, quite a furore in Paris. The French have always held the most exalted, through somewhat distorted notions of our Lord Mayor’s powers and rank. I recollect during the Crimean war, when Sebastopol stoutly continued its resistance, a reassuring rumor went through France that the British lion was on his mettle, and so thoroughly did he mean business that it bad been decided that if Sebastopol did not fall by a certain day, the great Lord Mayor himself would proceed to the Crimea. Altogether the Parisians seem to have enjoyed the visit amazingly, and no doubt Lord Stone, as the French papers insisted on calling him, was equally gratified. Preparations for the construction of the Channel tunnel are being'pushed on vigorously. A company has been formed on this side to carry on the work, and a Bill authorising a French company to co-operate has been laid before the French Assembly. The engineers are sanguine, even almost confident of success. There is every indication that the bed of the Channel consists of a continuous stratum of chalk some hundreds of feet in thickness, and driving a bore for twenty miles through it is a matter of no great difficulty to the engineers of the present day. The work will at first be limited to making a driftway, eight or nine feet in diameter, from end to end. Then, if this is accomplished successfully, the work of enlargement will be comparatively easy. It is calculated that boring the driftway will occupy two years, and the enlargement and completion of the tunnel four years more. The fifth volume of Mr Kinglake’s great work on “ The Invasion of the Crimea,” has appeared. The history is to extend to the death of Lord Raglan, so that this volume, which deals with the battle of Inkerman, brings the work towards its conclusion. The first volume dealt with the origin of the Crimean war, the second with the Alma, the third with the early stages of the siege of Sebastapol, and the fourth with the battle of Balaclava. Amongst other works of value and interest which have recently appeared, I must mention Livingstonia last journals A design is on foot to establish an industrial missionary settlement on the borders of Lake Nyassa, to be called Livingstonia, after the great traveller. The undertaking is considered feasible, and of the £IO,OOO required to carry it out, £SOOO has already been subscribed in Scotland. An article on New Zealand, signed “Charles Fellows,” appears in this month’s “ Fraser,” and as that magazine is a high class one, and enjoys a large circulation amongst the thinking section of the reading public, the paper in question will doubtless excite considerable attention. The writer introduces himself with a statement that his remarks are based on an “ experience of more than six years passed in the colony, and from a long and careful study of its financial policy.” His tone, however, is too passionate ; he is too much carried away by his evident bitterness, for which there is doubtless some cause, to admit of his observations being received as D'ose of an impartial judge. This is a fair specimen of the style throughout—“ Accounts of the most flagrant waste excite no public feeling. There are no indignation meetings to denounce even the most outrageous extravagance, and the surest avenue to popularity is to aid and encourage it to the utmost.” As an instance of the reckless conduct of the public works department he cites the construction of the line of railway between Christchurch and Dunedin. “It would be difficult,” he says, “to hit upon a locality where a railway was less needed.” After damning as much as he can the public works, he becomes even more cutting regarding the commercial enterprises of the colony, which, he says, are hardly even so financially successful. Altogether, from beginning to end the article is nothing but an unsparing onslaught on your financial policy. It is to be hoped that the attempt to establish the salmon in the rivers of New Zealand will be successful. The Titnaru, which is expected to reach her destination about the end of March, carries out 200,000 salmon eggs. In her hold is a large wooden box about 12ft square, containing between thirty and forty tons of block ice, and in the very centre of this are fifty boxes fitted with trays, in which the eggs are placed, each egg being surrounded by sphagnum moss. Outside the box, again, is another box, and the interspace has been filled up with sawdust. Every care has been taken to ensure the arrival of the eggs in good condition, when they will be hatched out in apparatus fitted for the purpose. The object of packing them in ice is that intense cold retards the development of life. The Acclimatisation Society sent out in the Tintern Abbey, which left for New Zealand on the 6th instant, upwards of a thousand birds. The list com prises 100 partridges, 100 blackbirds, 100 thrushes, 100 starlings, 150 hedge sparrows, 160 yellowhammers, 100 goldfinches, 100 redpoles, and 100 linnets. It is expected that 70 per cent will reach safely. Past experience shows that robins are the most delicate, and blackbirds, thrushes, and starlings the hardiest. The directors of the Now Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company have issued their report. A dividend is recommended at the rate of 10 per cent per annum, with a bonus of 2J per cent,