The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1875-10-05 00:00:00

lOorset Conntti Express.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1875.

NOTES OF THE WEEK.
__. Majesty the Queen, with Princess Beatrice
and Prince Leopold, are expected to leave
Balmoral Castle at the end of next month, and
return to Windsor Castle. During the absence
of the Court, extensive improvements have been
going on in various parts of the Castle.
War with Chins is imminent. The present
Regent of the Celestial Empire, Li Han-Chang,
is one of the haughtiest and ablest of the highest
class of Mandarins, hating foreigners and all
their ways, and longing for nothing so much as
to tear the seals off the Treaty of Tientsin ; and
although a fortnight ago he promised to punish
the murderers of Mr. Margery, to idemnify his
family, to open a trade route from Burmah
through Yunnan, and to publish the treaty in
the Pekin Gazette, ho finally raised so many
difilcultiee about the execution of the treaty that
Mr. Wade, our Envoy at Pekin, ordered tho
Fleet Into the Yellow River, and gave formal
notice that unless his demands were conoeded he
would quit his post and leave the matter in the
hands of Admiral Ryder. The notice expired
on Friday, and wo are now waiting to hoar the
result. Our naval force at present stationed in
China is respectable, oonsisting of 21 ships,
2,000 officers and men, and 112 guns, and it
Gould be reinforced from neighbouring stations.
If, however, it should beoomo necessary to make
any material demonstration, a very oonsiderablo
augmentation of this force will be one of the first
measures to be adopted for tho protection of our
merchants, until an army of operation can be
landed. The latest news represents tho Chinese
officials as active in search of the murderers,
oven torturing the people of Manwine to make
thorn confess who killed Mr. Margery.
The Government must now have the fact
rather disagreeably brought homo to them, that
they made a sad mistake in issuing theAdiniralty
circular with respect to fugitive slaves. In
various parts of the country meetings have been
hold to protest against this circular of instruc-
tions. The effect of these directions is to take
from fugitive slaves the faith and trust they
formerly had in the British flag, and to order
liritish commanders of her Majesty's vessels to
restore such slaves to their owners. This cannot
be explained away. The Lords of the AdmiraTty
have taken a false step, because it is retro-
greasive—a step towards the restoration of
slavery. Of course the Government will with-
draw their instructions, but it was sad blundering
to issue them.
The Budget is yet a long way off, but we may
look forward to it with hopeful anticipation.
The Revenue returns just published show that
the Chancellor of the Exchequer now has a
surplus of very nearly a million. This fact
speaks powerfully as to the prosperity of the
country.
Parliamentary returns take a long time to
incubate. There are two which have been in
progress for many menthe, and which are
expected with very considerable interest. One
is the new Domesday book, the return of all the
landowners in England and Wales, for which
Lord Derby moved many months—it is even
years—ago. The other is the return of the sums
of money spent in church building and restora-
tion during the last 40 years; moved for by
Lord Hampton. The Archbishop of Canterbury
who was present at the laying of the foundation
stone of a now church in Maidstone on Wednes-
day gave his estimate of the amount, thirty
millions. This is only a portion of the money
which would have to be handed over to the
Church—taken, that is, from the nation and
given to what would then be the Episcopalian
sect—if the State Church were disestablished.
The Queen, it will be remembered, some time
since consented to become the patroness of the
Church of England Temperance Society, express-
ing her admiration of the principle of temperance
in contradistinction to the rigid exclusiveness of
total abstinence. A gentleman who may be
regarded as the founder of their association, the
Rev. Mr. Ellison, vicar of Windsor, has just
resigned that position on accepting one elsewhere
requiring less active duty, and this in order that
he may devote himself more assiduously to the
promotion of temperance—by which, be it
remarked, he does uot mean teetotalism.
Devotion to an extreme cause is common, but
we do not often hear of self-denial in the
interests of moderation.
The people in Blackburn nave noi woo
to recognise tho ability and unselfishness of Mr.
Ilibbert, whoa! tor the death of Mr. Wiuterbothain
in ight have taken the under-secretaryship of State
at the Home-ottice, but left it to the Premier to
decide whether in that post or at the Local
Government Board ho would be of most service.
At the poll on Thursday he secured but 4,831
votes against his opponents 5,792. The publicans
again voted Tory.
But their reward is at hand. From Salford,
Buruley, and some other northern towns, the
Licensing Committees have memorialised the
Hume Secretary in favour of further restrictions
upon the granting of outdoor licenses, on the
ground that they have been unable, in con-
sequence of the state of the law, to refuse licenses
which otherwise they would not have granted,
and they are of opinion that outdoor licenses
seriously increase the facilities for private
drinking, especially amongst women.
It is not surprising to hear that Henry Wain-
wright, the man in Horsemonger-lano gaol,
under the charge of having murdered and
mutilated a young woman, now looks "haggard
and care-worn," as well he may. It appears that
he has spent a good portion of his time in read-
ing the newspapers, and as his own case—with
all the facts and rumours connected with it--
has largely occuped the papers of Lite, he must
have had some very exciting reading. The pro-
ceedings upon the ooronor s inquest on Friday
broke tho lull in the public excitement which
had boon observable for a few days previously.
As to the guilt or innocence of the man, of
course we express no opinion. Whatever be the
result, the trial itself will be a remarkable one.
The ease is almost wholly made up of circum-
stantial and inferential evidonce,and hence there
will be great scope for all that argumentative
power which characterizes many of our criminal
lawyers. The identity of the remains has not
yet been clearly proved, though strong opinions
have been expressed by relatives who declare
thorn to be those of Harriet Lane, while of course
the main charge itself has yet to be legally
brought home to the prisoner. A new phase in
the case is the arrest of his brother Thomas, as
an "accessory after tho fact." He it was who
purchased the chopper and shovel used in dis-
membering and burying tho remains, and he
also obtained, tho day before the discovery, the
keys of the Hen and Chickens, where hisbrother
was about to hido the body. Thomas Wain-
wright is younger than his brother, but he also,
it seems, has been cohabiting with another
woman, and loft his wife and family to become
chargeable to the parish. Immorality and
profligacy seem to permeate every part of this
, I miserable story.
. Deka,

Her

legal!y