EXTRACTS.

Auckland Times, Volume 3, Issue 113, 11 March 1845, Page 4

EXTRACTS.

Revenue of the Fkince of Wales, pursuant to the order <>f Parliament, that the total revenues oi the young Tiiace of

"Wales, the heir apparent to the British realms, amounted, on the 31st December last, to no less a sum, from the two duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster, than £73,100 and upwards. The rents of the Duchy of Cornwall alone amounted to more than £ 14,000 ; besides tines on new grants of leases dividends rn stock, compensation in lieu 6' the " Tin Coinage Duties," the produce of the royalties of the coal mines in Somerset, &c. The total amount of rents in the Duchy of Lancaster was about double that of Cornwall, being no less than £2H, 500. There were, in addiiim to this d chy, fines on renewals of leases, sa es, grants in fee, and vaiious other modes of swelling the sum total of the sevenue of the youthful Prince of Wales.,, After the various payments of expenditure, during the last year, ihe balance of the Duchy of Cornwall revenue wa5.563,926, in addition to outstanding arrears of and a balance due to 'he Receiver-General of Among the items of expenditure's the following: '.' Payments made to His Royal Highness's use," 418,579. . That is from Co nwa 1 a'one. The payment made out of the Duchy of La caster revenue to r His .Majesty's Keeper of the Privy Purse was, in the same year, 5613,000; and the balance, after all payments, 564 941. — Britannia. Wood Pavement*, and Fever.—At a late meeting of the Westminster Medica l Society,, Dr. Copland c}rew attention to the probable extension of fever in the metropolis from the extension of wood pavement. From his statement it appeared that, when wood pavi g was taken ttp for repairs, there might be observed, for several inches below the surrace, the pores of the wood saturated with back matters, from the decomposing organic su stances which are carried do*n and absorbed with the water. These, on further decomposition, would appear very likely to evauora e,' producing some subtle form of atmospheri ■ impuri'y> besides which they would be aided by the water emp oyed in watering the streets, and falling from rain. These, he considers, would greatly extend and prolong the influence of that low form of typhoid fevers- which have been so common ra the metropolis.— Post.

Vegetable Phenomenon*. —ln the garden of W. Grimstone, Esq., of the Herbay, Highgate, i* now to be seen a peaplant in lull bearing, which is remarkably illustrative of the g eat length of time the germinating p o erty can continue in seeds. This plant was produced from one of three peas presented to the above gentleman by J. T. Pettigrew, Esq., surgeon, of Savilierow, having been taken by the latter and the authorities at the Batish Museum from one ot the vases recently extracted from an Egyptian sarcophagus, and where, according to computation, the vases with their contents must have remained for no less a period than 2844 years. The vases contained a large quantity of dust, supposed to be the decomposition of a nUm er of grains cf wheat, vetches aud other peas. Some of the grains of wheat have been sown and found productive, but the vetch peas have not germinated, the other pea, resembling the British culinary pea, has in the above ins auce been «ried effectually. The three i easwere placed by Mr Grims'one's gardener in a hot-bed, and watched with great care. After some time one only was found to sprout; it gradually increased in height, growing like a Sprout,' and finally burst forth a beautiful white bloom with green stripes, having only four petals (an English pea having five) ; at the end of each are three singular fanys. Each flower was of a befl-shape, something like a convolvolus, but not so large, from the centre of which the pods have shot forth, and are now 19 in number, and fit to gather, and they are in shape something between our marrow-fat and scimitar peas.— They liave of course not been tr:ed, but it is believed they are suitable for culinary purposes, judging from the blossoms having been white. Mr. Pettigrew, aud several eminent botanists, s< ien ific and other gentlemen have seen this vegetable phenomenon and take great inteerst in it.— Times.

Lord Ellenboroogh and the Irish Vice- Royalty.— The French King and the Fkench Press. (Fiom the Weekly Chronicle,') We have no patience with the Newsmongers, who fabricate such stupid reports as that of sending Lord Ellenoorough to replace Lord Heytesburyin Ireland. It shows at once, a contempt for truth, and a lack of imagination. Sir James Graham is not precisely the man to stand godfather to a tie.nnaulh. i' oclumation ou the other side

of the Irish Channel; and though the Premier may give an Earldom to an old friend, by way of a sop, under very uncomfortable circumstances, our readers may take our word for it, that he would just as soon put a red poker into a barrel of gunpowder, as instal Lord Ellenborough in Dublin Castle. Why, such a choice, at such a time, vvould make even u> Repealers to-morrow. Louis Philippe having nr-'.de his exi' from England amids storms, and flames, that would have done honour to a Finale at Astley's, seems likely to find a flame at Paris hotter far than those of New Cross, and a storm worse than that which forced him brtck from Portsmouth to Dover. Never was anything so perverse, and so senseless, as the misconstrue ion put by the Fr nch P-ess upon everything done, or not done, during his visit here. The warm recepti >n given to him by all classes, is "an invidious distinction" drawn between France and its Ruler. It was "an insult" to send the Duke of Wellington to meet the Queen's Guest on landing ; "an insult" on the part of Lord Aberdeen not to meet Monsr. Guizot upon the ve y inslant of his a rival at Windsor ;—"an insult" to entertain a French King in the Hall of St. George, because it contains the pi ;ures of some of the Allied Sovereigns, who, thirty years ago, took part with Pngland in the Campaign, that led to the Peace of Paris ! Th« Duke of Wellington, if he had had common delicacy, would have caught cold, and kept his bed, daiing the whole of the King's stay here !—And Lord Aberdeen, though he had a cold, should, have neglected it, in order to ma k his empressement to welcome his brother Minister.

Nothing, in short, is too absurd, nothing too fantastic, for those little-minded scribblers to lay hod o*', and to twist to our dis j advantage. Ye they call themselves "La Grande Nation,"—and affect to look down upon the rest of Europe ! Wo will not do F-anc'e the injustice of supposing that this is a true picture of her 'eelings gene ahy ; indeed, we happen to hive heard from & most intelligent fiiend, who has just returned from a usit to some of the French Manu'ac uring Districs, tha', so -ar is this

from being the case, that the King's ieception here has been the theme of general congratulation, as a proof of the complete restoration of a good understanding between the t<vo countries. But a_ the same time it would be useless to deny that the mean and malignant spirit, to which we have adve ted, prevails with a iar/e and influential par y, and that this party claims die Prince de Joinville as its leader. He has r turn d, it seems, very much oul of humour with the abrupt termination of the dispute with Morocco, and ascribes it to the prevalence of Knglish influence in his father's Councils. We fear, herefor", that little will be gained , by the exchange of court- sies and presents between the Courts; and that though ni rupture need be feared during the life of the present king, the only way to prevent it is to be well prepared for it afterwards.

An anecdote has been 1 elated m us n> the King of the French, on the authority of an ear-witness which cannot fail of proving interesting to our readers. On the occasion of his Majesty's late installation as a knight of the Garter, when the Chancellor of the Order, the Bishop of Winchester, arrived at that part or (he ceremony at which the knight is called upon In declare that he •* will not make ai>v "."just or unholy « : a' upon the sovereign of the order," the King intertupted the prelate, and emphatically exclaimed more than once, *' No I never will " His IVlajf'Sty afterwards desired t<> be fnnished with a Copy of the oath, in order that he might observe minutely its injunctions. Morning Herald. A letter from Hamburgh says: " Last Saturday all thn persons engaged on the daily journal, the Correspondent Impartial de Hamburg, celebrated by a dinner, the OOih anniversary of the fiitry ol one of the compositors, named Heiti, on the paper. During that long period he had not missed his woik a single day. He ia now 88 years of age, enjoys excel-, lent health, aud does his work like a young man, There were 220 persons present at the dinner, including all the master-printers of the place One of these gentlemen. iVJ. Bodecker, sent 100 pine apples, 400 bs, of tine grapes, besides flowers, lor the feast.