The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, MARC ti 18, 1861.

DEATH OF m E DUCIIESS OF SENT.

The illness under which her Royal Highness the
Duchess of Kent had been suffering for some time,
though of a nature to create anxiety, did not assume
until about 1 o'clock on Friday last a character such
as to cause serious alarm of an immediate fatal ter-

mination.
Sir James Clark, her Majesty's physician, called
at Frogmore-house on Friday, on his way from
London to Bagshot, and was Immediately informed
by Mr. Brown, the Duchess's medical attendant, that
since the morning a sudden and most unfavourable
change had taken place in her Royal Highness. Sir
James Clark, having ascertained the fact, at once
returned to London and communicated the intelli-
gence to his Royal Highness the Prince Consort.
A special train was immediately- ordered to convey
the Queen, the Prince Consort, and Princess Alice
to Windsor, whence they proceed to Frogmore-
house, and remained during the whole night in
attendance on the Duchess, whose weakness gradu-
ally increased until half-past 9 o'clock on Saturday
morning, when her Royal Highness breathed her
last, peaceably and without pain, her couch being
surrounded by the Queen, the Prince Consort, and
Princess Alice ; and her Royal Highness's ladies.
The Queen and Prince, with the Princess Alice,
overwhelmed with grief, remained at Frogmore
during the day, where the Prince of Wales and
Princess Helena joined their sorrowing parents.

(From the Court Circular.)

FROGMORE, 16TH MARCH, 6 A.M.

" Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent,
whose health has been failing for some time, was
yesterday attacked by a severe rigor, since which
the symptoms have assumed a very dangerous
character. Her Royal Highness has passed the
night quietly, but the prostration of strength is
such as to cause the greatest alarm.

" J. CLARK."

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent expired
about half-past 9 o'clock on Saturday morning at
Frogmore-house, in the presence of the Queen, the
Prince Consort, and Princess Alice, who had arrived
from London at 8 o'clock on Friday night, and re-
mained during the night at Frogmore,
The following bulletin announcing the death of
her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, was
issued on Saturday :

" FROGMORE, MARCH 16,

"Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent's
health had been declining for some time, but with-
out giving any cause of immediate anxiety till
yesterday, when the Duchess had a violent rigor.
From this time the symptoms assumed a very dan-
gerous character, and, although she passed a quiet
night, the prostration of grength continued to
increase rapidly, and her Royal Highness died at
half-past 9 o'clock this morning.
(Signed) " JAMES CLARK, M.D.
"HENRY BROWN, Surgeon."
WINDSOR CASTLE, SATURDAY.

The Queen, Prince Consort, and Princess Alice
left Buckingham Palace a little before seven o'clock
on Friday evening and proceeded to Windsor by a
special train on the Great Western Railway,
attended by Major-General the Hon. C. Grey,
Colonel the Hon. A. Hardinge, Colonel Biddulph,
and Sir James Clark.

On arriving at Windsor her Majesty, the Prince
Consort, and Princess Alice drove immediately to
Frogmore-house and remained there.
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent
expired this morning at half-past nine o'clock,
without pain, in the presence of her Majesty, the
Prince Consort, and Princess Alice, and the
Duchess's attendants.

Telegrams to announce the melancholy event
were atonce despatched to the Crown Princess of
Prussia, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the
King of the Belgians, the King of Prussia, the
King of Portugal, the King of Hanover, the Duke
of Coburg, Princess Hohenlohe and other relatives
of the deceased Duchess, and al 3o to Viscount Pal-
merston and her Majesty's Mini,3ters.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who
had been summoned from Madd .ingley-hall, Cam-
bridge, arrived at Frogmore-ho use at 12 o'clock,
attended by Major-General the IJon. R. Bruce and
Colonel Beppel.
Their Royal Highnesses 'Print: ess Helena, Prin-
cess Louise, Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold, and
Princess Beatrice arrived at Winfilsor from Bucking-
ham Palace at 12 o'clock, attended by Lady Caroline
Barrington, Colonel the Hon. A. iCiddell, and Major
Elphinstone. Princess Helena j',oined her Majesty
and the Royal family at Frogmo) •e-house.
About 7 o'clock yesterday evvtaing the Queen,
Prince Consort, the Prince of Wailes, Princess Alice,
and Princess Helena came from IFrogmore-house to
Windsor Castle, where her Majet;ty and the Royal
family will remain.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duke of Nemours
and Prince Philip of Wurtemb e rg came to Frog-
more in the forenoon, having hem rd of the Duchess's
dangerous illness, and were admitc ted to the presence
of the Queen.

Her Majesty's health has not suffered, notwith-
standing the heavy affliction with which her
Majesty has been visited.
The Marchioness of Ely has arrived as Lady-in-
Waiting.

SUNDAY.

Divine Service was performed in the private
chapel of the Castle this morning by the Hon. and
Very Rev. the Dean of Windsor.

(From the London Gazette Extraordinary.)

WHITEHA LL, MARCH 16.

This morning, about half-past nine o'clock, her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent departed this
life, at Frogmore House, to the great grief of her
Majesty and all the Royal family, after long suf-
fering, which she bore with exeinplary patience.
The Queen, his 'loyal Richness tho Prince
Consort, and her Royal High cells the Princess
Alice, who had arrived from London at eight
o'clock last night, and remained. during the night
at Frogmore, were present when the Duchess of
Kent expired.

Sir George Lewis, the Secretary of State for the
Home Department, announced the demise of her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent on Saturday
in the subjoined communication, addressed to the
Lord Mayor at the Mansion-house.
" WHITEHALL, MARCH 16.

"My Lord,—lt is with great concern that I in-
form your Lordship of the death of her Royal High-
ness the Duchess of Kent, which took place at
Frogmore-house, this morning about half-past nine
o'clock, to the great grief of heir Majesty and the
Royal family.
" I request that you will give 'the directions usual
on such occasions for tolling ate great bell at St.
Paul's Cathedral.—l have the honour to be, my
Lord, your Lordship's obedient servant,
'" G. C. LEWIS.

The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor."
The Chief Magistrate immediately forwarded a
copy of this official communical ion to Dr. Milman,
the Dean of St. Paul's, and in s. few minutes after-
wards the great bell of the Cathedral, which is
never tolled except on the decease of a member
of the Royal family, was boo ming the sad intel-
ligence over the metropolis fair and near. Fol-
lowing an ancient usage on such occasions, the
Lord Mayor also caused a corpy of the letter to
be posted in front of the Mao Ision-house, where,
during the remainder of the ,day and yesterday,
thousands of people paused to read it.

Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal (the
Princess Frederick William of:Prussia) is expected
to arrive this evening from 1 Berlin, on a visit of
condolence to her illustrious pa rents at Windsor.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cam-
bridge and the Priness Mary, accompanied by his
Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, left their
residence at St, James's Palace :yesterday afternoon,

shortly after 2 dclock, to pay a visit of condolence
to the Queen ani the Prince Consort at Windsor.
Their Royal Highnesses returned to town shortly
before 6 o'clock.

We have autaority to announce that, in conse-
quence of the death of her Royal Highness the
Duchess of Kent; the State apartments at Windsor
Castle are closed until further notice.

We are authorised to state that, in consequence
of the death of her Royal Highness the Duchess of
Kent, her Majesty's Drawing Room announced for
Thursday next, tLe 21st inst., will not take place.

THE NEW ZEALAND WAR.

MELBOURNE, JAN. 25.

The troops under General Pratt have achieved
another important success against the Waikatos,
allies of Kingi, at Taranaki. A large body of that
tribe, after the defeat of some of their party at
Mahoelaki, had occupied a very strong position at
a place called Mttarikoriko, a few miles up the
Waitara river. Its natural position was • one of
great strength, and the natives had fortified it with
great skill, and bad established their usual defences
of rifle pits and trenches.

The troops were moved into position early on the
29th of December, and an intrenched camp was
thrown up. .A,Ohe irativet have no artille.ry this
method is certain to succeed against them with
very little loss on our side, and after a few repeti-
tions will, no doubt, thoroughly dishearten the in-
surgents. The firing lasted 22 hours. The native
less is estimated at 135 killed, including 25 women,
70 wounded, and 15 missing ; while that of the
troops is only 3 killed and 22 wounded. It is said
that the natives asked for a truce to bury their
dead, and urged also that they did not wish to fight
on Sunday (Dec. 30), and that General Pratt yielded.
This opportunity was seized by the Waikatos to
abandon their stronghold, when the troops took
possession. General Pratt in his despatch mentions
the retirement of the natives, and the taking pos-
session of the pah, but does not allude to the truce,
but several other accounts mention it, and I have no
doubt it was urged, as it is quite consistent with
native sagacity. The Waikatos are now driven
back into a country which will scarcely feed them,
and our troops are in a position to keep them there.
Five chiefs were found among the killed. In the
captured pah a letter was found written by a
" friendly native," one of the" native assessors"—
that is, a sort of nativejustice of the peace, who sits
with the magistrates to decide native disputes—
conveying full intelligence of the movements of the
troops. He has been arrested.
onis a
theCAOPloYndoaf the General's own
Monday immediately after
taking possession of the pah :
" Camp, Waitara, Dec. 31, 1860.
written
ng
desTphaetchfo
" Sir,--I have the honour to report, for the in-
formation of your Excellency and the members of
the Government, that the excessive rains having
ceased, I was enabled to move out from New Ply-
mouth on the 28th inst., in order to attack a large
body of the Waikatos, who had occupied a very
strong position at Matarikoriko, on the left bank
of the Waitara, and not far from Huirangi.
" My force, after being joined by parties from
the Waitara Camp and the other positions. amounted
to 900 rank and file of all arms, which was all I
could muster, after leaving the town and other
posts in security, and required some assistance from
her Majesty's ships Cordelia and Victoria; and I
note this in consequence of the great misstatements
which are circulated regarding the amount of force
at my disposal for aggressive operations.
" Having halted at the Waitara Camp, now my
base of operation, I marched from thence at half-
past 3 o'clock on the morning of the 29th, and
reached Kairau, opposite the atarikoriko mound
and pah, and 900 yards distant from it, at half-past
6 a.m., and proceeded to throw up an intrenched
camp for the security of the troops during the sub-
sequent operations. This was done without moles-
tation, until about 9 o'clock, when a very heavy fire
was opened upon us from a line of rifle pits, extend-
ing for 600 yards, just 100 paces from us, and
running' along the edge of a deep ravine between
us and the pah, havingvery precipitous banks, and
at the bottom of which was a dense forest and deep
swamp. Firing was opened upon us also from
skirmishers in the high fern nearly all round the
intrenchments. This was promptly returned by
our skirmishers, the troops, and howitzers ; and
heavy firing was kept up on both sides until six in
the evening, by which time the redoubt, which had
been carried on the whole time, being completed it was
garrisoned, and a portion of the force returned to
camp.
" Next morning (30th of December), at daylight,
on my troops reaching the redoubt, I found that
the enemy had kept up a constant fire during the
night, which was as promptly returned. They
had a white flag on the pah, and line of rifle-pits ;
and the redoubt was heightened and strengthened
during the day, without a shot being fired on
either side.

"On the 31st, at half-past 3 a.m., I again
marched out ; but from the information which
reached me on the road that the enemy was leaving
the rifle-pits and retiring from the pah, and that
it was not unlikely that it might be occupied by
another party of the enemy who were known to
be coming up from the north, I at once sent an
order to Colonel Wyatt, commanding the intrench-
ment, to ascertain whether the rifle-pits and the
pah were occupied, and if not to take possession of
both without a moment's delay. This was im-
mediately done by a party of 200 men of the 65th
and Naval Brigade, under Colonel Wyatt and
Commodore Seymour, and on, our force sighting
the pah, we had the satisfaction of seeing the
British flag floating over it.
"The result of these three days has been that
the proud Waikatos, who had threatened to drive
us into the sea, have instead been themselves
driven from one of the most formidable positions I
ever saw, chosen by themselves, and that too, with
singular sagacity, into the dense bush, and we
occupy positions to keep them there.
"Our casualties have been three killed and 22
wounded, which is small, considering the shower
of bullets poured upon us for such a length of time.
I cannot as yet ascertain the exact loss of the
enemy, but it must have been great to have in-
duced them to suffer the mortification of abandon-
ing their pah and position without another struggle;
it La known that at leant five chiefs have been
killed, among them Te Ahitana of Ngatiawa, and
Karira of Ngatiamniapoto, and further particulars
as to names and numbers will be sent hereafter.

" I have now to bring to your Excellency's notice
the conduct of the Naval Brigade, and troops of all
arms; their duties have been most laborious and
incessant, skirmishing through the high fern over
the head, fired at by unseen foes, and carrying on
the work of the intrenchment under heavy fire ; too
much cannot be said in their praise.
" The officers of all ranks vied with their men in
carrying out their respective duties, and it will be
my great satisfaction to bring the names of many
of them to the notice of the authorities at the Horse
Guards."

Since the receipt of the above intelligence the
Sydney Herald has published a short telegram fur-
nished by the captain of a trading vessel to this
effect :—That she was off Taranaki on Jan. 10, and
saw a large body of natives—probably 600 strong ;
that troops were seen in another direction ; and that
afterwards sharp musketry or rifle firing was heard
for a considerable time. This vague rumour reached
Melbourne on Monday, the 21st. The account is
by no means improbable, but we have no account of
any action since that of Matarikoriko.
I mentioned in a former letter the agitated state
of the native mind at Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa,
and the many rumours from different parts of the
country of further risings about Christmas—
rumours which I thought not inconsistent with
native habits. I have lately received some intelli-
gence from the same quarter which seems to dispel
the previous apprehension of a rising in the south.
The published accounts from Hawkes Bay are
equally satisfactory, so that the General has now to
concentrate his attention upon the north, whence
the Waikato hordes approach.
A warm discussion as to the origin and present
character of the war still continues to be carried on
in New Zealand. The champion of extreme native
rights is Sir William Martin, late Chief Justice of
the colony. He has had a great deal of intercourse
with the natives, writes and speaks the language,
and is much respected by them. The Governor's

view of the quarrel—indeed the Governor's own
defence—was transmitted to the Secretary of State
in June or July last, and has most likely been laid
before Parliament, and now Mr. C. W. Richmond,
who has had the management of native affairs, and
is one of the Ministry, has published an elaborate
answer to Sir W. Martin. Of course, the views of
the parties to the controversy are opposed to those
of each other. Sir W. Martin endeavours to esta-
blish :

1. That the disputed land belongs to the whole
tribe, as proprietors ; individual occupants culti-
vating, or having a right to cultivate, portions.
2. That this " tribal right" has been hitherto
acknowledged by the Government.
3. That Kingi, as principal chief, has asserted
this right ; and that the Governor, initiating a new
policy, has denied it. This is the grand issue now
being tried by the ultinza ratio reguin.
4. That there are many claimants who have as
good a claim as Teira, and that Kingi and his family
are among those claimants co-equal with Teira.

5. That these claims were not sufficiently inves-
tigated, and that Teira's title is either bad, or at
best doubtful.

0. That the Governor was not justified in taking
forcible possession without the judgment of a court
of law ; and that the Governor, by his proclamation
of martial law, illegal in itself, declared war against
the natives at Taranaki before they had commenced
hostilities.
Mr. Richmond answers—

1. That the " tribal right" has never been recog-
nized, and that the precedents of former purchases
have been strictly followed in the Waitara case.

2. That Kingi did not pretend to found his re-
sistance on his tribal or other right, but took the
broad ground of resisting the further extension of
the settlement.

3. That the investigation was complete. That
Teira's right to a portion of the block is certain (Sir
W. Martin would admit this), and his right to the
whole probable. (This is the whole of the original
question in dispute.) No adverse claim has been
proved, and none " authentically preferred."
4. The Governor, being of right sole judge of
questions respecting native territorial rights, was
justified in enforcing his jurisdiction in the only
practicable mode—namely, by military occupation.
The taking possession of the block was lawful, on
the further ground that the rights of the apparent
owners, after due inquiry, had been ceded to the
Crown.