English and Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 385, 12 July 1856, Page 7

English and Foreign.

FRENCH OPINION UPCN EXGI.AXD. (From the "Examiner.") In reviewing-the Political Fuaire. of England M. (le Montaietn^eu has had liie emirate to separate him; elf from the cla-s of iit-lleciual ami lettered men in France to which lie preeminently belongs, and which seems to pursue no occupation at present "it'll such enjoyment and zest, as that of dt'| lVeaiino1 our energy ami resources, and casting contempt upon onv name. He commences liis remarkable essay by acknowledging; the existence, throughout the world generally just nmv, no', only of a dislike of England, but ol ;i belief that she has reached the summit of her power and prosperity, ami is at last commencing iior c"iirse (tn«n-hiil. But observe with wh:il spirt he reimkes even while lie dt'sctihes this leeiini;'. " No one can deny or dissemblo i' l- [>''3's M. «lo ombort,] " there runs through tliu world ni. opinion unfavourable to the security nr'EuuUuul, to tht> "pcrin-.vnsm-e ol' its glorious iuytitntions, a:ut to its po!i;k-al raoraiiiy

The confidence without limit, the envy but too natural, the admiration amounting to passion, which England for the last century had excited in enlightoned minds, have given way to different sentiments. " While her partisans are themselves assailed by apprehension or mistrust, her adversaries, increasing every day, already hail as imminent tho fall of Old Eucliind. Democrats and absolutists unite to for the same wishes, and are prepared to applaud the same catastrophe. Engiand has in fact too lons defied both. She has ever given the lie to the false logic, false science, and implacable passions of extreme parties. Her force ever increasing, her freedom without bounds, her prosperity without a rival, furnish overwhelming arguments both against the socialist demagogy that would pass this j world through a i-ieve of savage equality, aud against that monarchic absolutism which knows not how to preserve nations from terror ami disorder without thrusting them into silence and annihilation. England has too proudly offered her example tv honest men, who seek a refuge from either disgraceful alternative. Since the abortion or abdication of continental liberalism, Kngland stands alone. And on all sides may be heard the impatience, of those who exclaim. When shall the world be delivered from this incubus? Who will rid us of this nest of stubborn aristocrats and uncompromising liberals? Who will humble the pride of this people that thus brave the laws of logic, who have the audacity to believe at one and the sam.9 time in tradition aud in progress, who maintain royalty while they practise liberty, and can repel revolution without falling •uuder the yoke of despotism. > M. de .Monulembert does not omit to add however, that it is not simply with parties who thus occupy either extreme, and have mi better excuses for detraction than their malice or their envy, that England stands now at a disadvantage. He proceeds to describe another class in whom she has inspired reasons for dislike that cannot be called either unjust or dishonest. The insupportable arrogancy of English diplomacy towards the weak, and of the English press against all the ■world, has excited the indignation of every honest man. Whilst all the time England has not cared continually ;o vary its own attitude, passing from the excess of invective to the extremj of adulation- It has forgotten so much, dissembled so much, has sacrificed so many rights, and so much of the cause of freedom, to its ambition, its interests, or its fears. It has abdicated the honoor of free institutions before the force of the contrary principle! That, indeed, was a death-blow to many a noble heart amongst us. Nor are we. left to doubt the precise aim of this allusion. Our enlightened French censor singles out Lord Palinerston as the type of English political feeling; accuses him of having: favoured revolution in place of freedom in Italy, and despotism in lieu of freedom in France; and arraigns the people of England as on these points"■hislwillirt^'accomplices. In j both is m-nked for reprobation " that cruel and implacable selfishness which has characterized the history of every conquering nation, and, above all other?, that of the people of Rome, whose greatness, whose severity, whose traditional liberty, whose proud personality and indomitable energy, England so faithfully has reproduced. We reirret that amid so generous and high mind-id reasoning a charge of this kind should have found a place. No enlightened Englishman has felt indifferent to the suppression of representative srovernment in France, but does M. iie .iLmialetiibtrt or any Frenchman in his senses believe that the restoration of a constitutional system in such a country as theirs won't! have been favoured by England making its absence a cause of resentment or its presence a sine qua rwn o'' alliance? Were we to betray the interest? of Europe for the sake of only encumbering with our useless sympathy a tnoi o; genii-men who have really had themselves lo thank tiie most lor their misfortunes? "N c \ iif \\ti< n m li/ ttit.ji itself was imi) ' " -(.iii illo\ nice moraljudg jn' - i-r tie Xi)c.!iencir of iuteiiiatlOl i' It t--T> i_ ii M inuhm iert does not c«i. in pi ieis to assure th ;se ■• 'is in b( f n speculating l'» i in ih" British empire, tl \ in d liiMon. With "(i ill if ii mss he demonstl '■ mi of th i-e symptoms th Ii is iie forerunners of E - f i\,\\ in h do not really ] ><J ' \ 'ir-i pi "longed vitality «»&' |l ' •.. i_;l ind'b weakness be ai l [ >it ill miicrt, Iron! the ut >• / f iii in in the Crimea oi ii i di h imy in all the <] c 'me i £,<» to form the JU i ( i' s \ tst compensations fo ■• iNt lining cultivated t\ in <• not a few of the ad\ „' ■> in f« ii While m«;e in ' i_o »„' inst;iiit. ex--1 t hick »"•' and expand. v, cotilidence do not d( n c the real sinews of ali EuyUud has always

commenced her wars feebly, says Montaleinbert, but this has not prevented her fr»m eonnutiing and terminating them like a giant. To which remark of her generous cntic let us hope that, we may not lose the opportunity "t adding one noble example more There are other points worth notice in the French statesman's essay. Ho warns tho lory politicians of France '.hat they are as little justified in arguing against England on the ground of her liberality in political opinion, as the others are on the ground of her weakness in miiitan organization. He refuses to admit to any of these reasoiiersMiai. her decline is either a present fact or a future probability. Her continual tendency to progress ;niri reform he admits to be unqnesMonable. but denies that its results must be uecps-arily evil. Far from destroying or dethroning even aristocracy, M- <'c Montalernhert holds that this essential element, of the English character will remain as prominent as ever. E-lis reasoning"is that though, in the persons of the more able ami distinsruished members of its lower and middle class, English democracy must soon force its way to a larger share of power than it enjoys at present, still power and place will not he abandoned to it. The upner eiasses and their ymith will not have remained idte meanwhile. Their intellects will be educated ad exercised; and in the general competition of talent thf'.aii:4ocracvjwill not come off worst, for the English people, unlike some others, do not find it agreeable or necessary to despise talent simply because it is of noble birth.

M. de Montalemliert alludes to tlie movement for Administrative Reform, and liis vievs are too peculiar and characteristic isot to be given in his own words :— The movement betokens a somewhat da'igerous tendency) Hitherto the number of placemen wore few in England and place was a thing neither much respected nor generally desired. Place was the appanage of the poorer connections of the aristocracy, or of the class of political "parvenus." This state of things has now com* to be altered, and to resemble more what is the case in France. The extension of education amongst the masses has created a crowd of aspirants to public employment, while, though in .1 lesser degree, the number or' employments to bestow has also increased. But this craving for public office is one of the worst of social maladies. It spreads through the entire of a nation a venal and servile humour, which by no means excludes the spirit of faction and the love of anarchy. It creates a crowd of hungry beings, capable of the utmost fury to assuage their appetites, and ready for any baseness when the appetites have been appeased. A people of place-hunters is the most worthless of all populations.

There is some truth, with much exaggeration, in this. M. de Montaleinhert appears to have taken these countries too exclusively into his view where bureaucracy has flourished so ranklv, and with so little to correct or counteract it, as to exclude every other exertion and aspiration. But freedom is a corrective for that as for many other evils. In countries only where outlets to all honourable ambition in a private carreer are closed, could office ever be so eagerly sought at the price of honour and self-respect. Public functions won by merit and capacity, far from leading to servile compliances, are surely rather calculated to create a school of independence. The close of M. de .Montaleinhert's essay has relation to our law of primogeniture. After enumerating the excellences of our social and political condition, and pointing out the power, freedom and always steady progress of England, the French statesmen declares his conviction that all are owing to the circumstance of our social fabric being built upon landed possession, which the exclusive right of the eldest son lo inherit has kept unaltered and enduring for so many centuries. His earnest advice to his countrymen, therefore, is that, they should now permit to be introduced into France a right of bequeathing property as the owner may desire. Tlrs m;.y he, and indeed i», no unfair wish. It may be perfectly true that ilie present forced division of all property in Fiance acts tyrannically and unfairly in many case?, and'that it would be we'll so far to relax it. But it is not less certain that M. de Moutalemhert much exaggerates the influence of the landed interest amongst us, and makes'far too small account of the many causes which have operated of late years greatly io diminish its predominance. M. de Montaleinbert appears so enamoured of our system of entails as to think them nothing less than the palladium .f English gn-ames"; but enlightened lingliKhmen are far from taking m> exalted a. view of an institution which separates eminence and influence, ik.iJ only,from capacity, but often from wealth itself. A nobility can endure without entails; and if all these qualities which M. de Montalemheri admires in an aristocracy be reaily admirable, he will luid them nut

less abundant in the old lloinan and in ili e Venetian, which handed down their policy and power In.in generation to generation, without having- land lor lis basis, or any system of landed entail among their laws.

The Owner of a Thousand Slaves. The richest member of the present Congress is William Aiken, of Sonth Carolina. His property is valued at 2,000,000 dollars, including over one thousand negroes. What a fommentaiy on republican institutions! The liM-gest^owacr of slaves in the country occupies a seat- in Congress, and makes laws for freemen. It is such glaring inconsistencies as this that makes Europeans mock at our republican Government.— Woonsocket Patriot. Mrs. (irummy, in looking- over the advertisements the other day, saw one headed " Radical cures. " " Well, " said she, " I'm glad they have got a way to cure them Radicals, for they have been long turning the world upside down. " A lady iii Cincinnati has r eently had a remarkable experience with a new servant girl. ' B'ddy,'said she, one pvening, ' we must have some sausages for tea this evening ; I expect company.' The laole was spread ; the tea wag simmering, hut no sausages appeared. ' WhertfV are the sausages, Biddy?' the lauy inquired."-^ 'And sure they're in the tay-pot, ma'am. Did'nt yon tell me we must have 'em for tav.' Ingenious Lnvkniion.—We have been, informed of an ingenious mechanical invention which, when perfected, will doubtless prove very serviceable to those lor whose use it is de.signed. It is culled the "Automaton Pugilist, or Barman's best companion,'' and is peculiarly adapted for the protection of peaceful barmen unacquainted with the " noble art.'' The instrument which has been carefully described to us by its inventor, consisted of a wooden figiue of a man placed upon wheels for convenience of locomotion. The face is carved after the most approved model of ferocity, as set forth by Lavaler—the arms, terminating in huge iron=bark fists, can he moved at. will by the operator, and can easily, by means of an ingenious contrivance, he adjusted to any height, from six feet downwards, to meet the demands of " all comers." The mode of application is as follows: —If it becomes necessary to eject vi et armis an obstreperous inebriate, the barman has only to push the figure before him, and touch a spring, winch immediately sets the arms in rapid motion, and sheltering himself behind the figure, commence the use of intimidating and threatening: language, such as " Now then !" "Out you go !" " Conic no nonsense here !' or else, '• I'll let you know!" and so on. In proportion as tne object of attack retreats, the operator can advance bis pugilist in the direction of the iloor, until the victory is complete. We have not a model of this truly clever contrivance at our office, and therefore it cannot yet be seen by the inquisitive ; but we can confidently recommend it to all hotel keepers as a desideratum not to be slighted.— Ovens Mining Intell'ujcncur,

A. Fishy Theouy.—The Origin of Gold. — Air. Mooney's lecture on the nature mid oiiign jof gold was tolerably well attehded. It' we may mlge by tiie innumerable geographical .^tmlogical, historical, ami physical facts which ihe lecturer introduced in support of his theory, we should say he had well studied his subject, but the "renter portion of the oration was devoted to proving what is universally admitted, viz., tha!>/ the earth has undergone g;eit contortions, and ' that the {origin of gold is in smne way attributable to these convulsions of nature. Mr. Mooney's theory of the gold formation certainly possesses the charm of novelty. In order to prevent misconception, we quote the words of the lecturer. \ u I set out by declaring my belief that gold is the petrified remains of matter which once was animate, and accompanied as it is generally by ocean fpebbh-p, quartz, crystal and other saline and marine debris; 1 am of opinion that gold is the petrified fat or niiirrow <•(" a peculiar fish which um:e floated over the gold-fields, when those fields were beds and bottoms of the world's great ocean.'' In proof of the hypothesis that gold is nothing more than the %' petrified1' fat of a peculiar fish, the lecturer showed specimens of quartz in which marine shells were embodied. Mr. Mooney then alluded to the fact that iron exists in the human blood, siml argued from that position that gold might be educed from the marrow of fisher.— -Obscerver-

Australian Statistics. —The whole face of the Australian statistics is covered with interesting suggestions. The impulse which, the gold has given to commerce was overdone, and there has been reaction; yet it is impossible not to perceiv; that the golden wealth of Victoria will continue to exercise great power in developing the commerce and therefore the political strength and independence of our Australian colonies. At the same time, the unequal distribution of gold, which at first seemed adverse to political colonies, is a real advantage. The great fluctuations have hiiopened where there has been the greatest productiveness, but the spirit of ihe self-government will accommodate itself t> those circumstances. The decline of gold in New South Wales, where there is a comparatively moderate production, has been attended by a marked recovery in its commercial and social condition. South Australia, which has no gold to speak of, but which is the portal of the Murray Valley and the granary of the Southern part of the continent, has shown the steadiest and most healthy development; yet who would venture to say that the extinction of gold would be beneficial to Victoria, to New South Wales, or South Australia ? The inequality is beneficial; and it is the freedom to take advantage of natural diversities in the several countries of the globe, as in the several races and even classes of society, which has developed English commerce, on which rests English influence. — Spectator, March 1.

/, I. 0. Woods.—Letters have been received in /|this city from I. C. Woods, dated Sydney, Nov. ' '30th. Isaac has his eye-teeth cut on the flour speculation. He thinks that Australia can in future produce its own flour. He was about to leave Melbourne.— California Ckro?zic/e. Off to Melbourne.—We are a clever people. For a dozen years we talked about a railwayjto the port. For half a dozen years we tried to make that railway. Sufficient labour was at last obtained to complete it, and now it is opened the chief traffic we can seemingly find for is to c ny our population—the labourers f who m; de the railway— to the ships Which are to lake them to the neighbouring colony. Yesterday the White Swan took away her bi-weekly instalment of just one hundred passengers, nearly all of them working people —men of the " stalwart arm"— "theircountry's pride, Who, once destroyed, cau never be supplied" at least, not under twenty-five guineas apiece, the lowest price at which the Commissioners can afford to gratify us with the visits of labourers, en route to Melbourne. JBut who is to blame, the servant who seeks the best master or the master who bids for the worst servant? Whilst we are sweating sixpences out of needy clerks, arguing with reduced turnkeys, and squab"bling with the King of the Cannibal Islands, or somebody else, about our "geographical position," our gold is lying uselesin the Treasury, and our labourers are taking to their heels iv disgust.— Adelaide Times.