ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 196, 15 March 1865, Page 4

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

(From the Spectator.)

Very fanny wagors appear to have been laid in the North on the issue of the late Presidental election. One man (who has luckily won his wager) agreed if he lo>t it to dine on the steps of the court-house in Trenton, New Jersey "on all the pleasantest days on the week," dinner to be served to him by the filthiest bootblacks procurable. Iu Chicago a Democrat will be obliged to pay for, and eat, four dinners with such colored company as the other party to the wager selects. Another Chicago Democrat has to carry his opponent on his back round the principal square to the sound of music. In Binghampton, New York, a man has to parade the streets at noon as a u sandwich," with "sold" inscribed on each board of the sandwich. In Providencp, Rhode Island, a Republican, if unsuccessful, would have had to wheel a negro in a barrow down Westminster-street to the bridge, and back up Broad-street; and a Democrat was to do the same for a white boy. The Democrat has lost, but, "with the consent of his opponent," has wheeled a negro boy round the course in place of the white boy. Is that a relaxation of the penalty, or a voluntary act of expiation, to render homage to the negro after all ? A strange burglary occurred on Monday in Lombard-Street. Messrs. Baum and Son, bullion dealers, have the floor of a larpe house, and in one room keep a large iron safe full of gold and securities. The house is left at night to the housekeeper, a niece, and her husband, and the strong rcom is guarded by double doors. On Monday morning, however, it was found that a hole had been cut through the brick work of the wall, the door of the strong box taken off, and gold and securities worth, according to Messrs. Baum and Sons, £SOOO abstracted. The thieves left four ordinary crowbars in the room, they broke the locks of the iron safe—without any reason, as they had taken off the hinges—and they had tied up the dog, and then let him loose again with a strap round his neck. Finally, knowing they could not close the outer door, which is fastened only by bars, they screwed on a spring latch. The housekeeper heard nothing, or her nephew or niece—all respectable people —and the breaking of the locks, the knowledge evinced of the premises, the theft of useless securities such as bills of exchange, and the contradictory reports about the amount stolen, are all exceedingly odd circumstances. The county of Radnor has erected a monument in the shape of an Eleanor Cross to the memory of the greatest man it ever p:oduced, Sir George Cornewall Lewis. The inaugural ceremony was performed on Wednesday, and Lord Clarendon made a graceful speech, declaring Sir George Cornwall Lewis a man who in private or public life never made an enemy or lost a friend. His calm judgment and unimpassioned reason created a confidence which was never mistaken, and a man who misjht have been Greek Professor in any University of Europe rose so as a statesman that he " would have succeeded, had he lived, to the highest dignity in the state," by which we suppose Lord Clarendon meant the highest in the State service. The determination of all moderate Liberals to raise Sir C. Lewis to the Premiership on tne resignation of Lord Palmerston, was, we believe, well known, but this is the first time it has been publicly stated. Lord Clarendon further declared that during twenty years of the closest possible intimacy " he never saw his temper ruffled, never heard him utter an unkind word, never knew him miss an opportunity of doing a kind act." That temper of grave" sweetness is very rare anywhere, and most especially rare among English public men, who always labor under a sense of a necessity for bearing down opposition. The Russian Government has opened a lottery loan for 100,000,000 roubles—£ls,ooo,ooo. The bonds are to be redeemed by "drawings," two of which will be held annually for thirty years, and at each drawing the prizes will amount to £90,000. We suppose the plan will draw the money, but if anybody wants to gamble in that fashion we Should think rouge et noir more interesting, and quite as creditable. Why does not the Czar set up a great " hell " at once ? Sir Robert Peel has been addressing his constituents and congratulating them on the juste milie between Liberalism and Toryism which the present Government has so happily hit. He did not seem to find his office in Ireland a very pleasant one, but he remarked that the Iris>h complaint of the neglect shown to Irishmen in official appointments was singularly false. All the principal colonies and dependencies of Great Britain—Canada, ludia, Australia, and otherswere at the present moment, governed by Irishmen—a fact no doubt due to their personal ability, but also proving that the Government does not hesitate to make use of their ability. There was not an office, he said, which Irishmen did not "either hold or covet." He thought therefore Englishmen should have their due influence in Ireland, since Ireland is certainly allowed ample influence in the other departments of the Government. That is all very sound, but if we are to admit the doctrine of moral specific gravities to the full extent, and let the denser thought of either country flow over to fill up the rarified places in the political atmosphere of the other, we shall surely have no excuse for transmitting to Ireland the light wits ot Sir Robert Peel! Mr Goldwin Smith writes to the 1 Daily News' a very high estimate of General Butler's powers. He has been with him at City Point, and regards him as " in all poiuts, good and evil, the model of a revolutionary chief." " Like Danton, he has walked straight on his wild way, fearless of danger, and somewhat reckless of opinion. Ido not worship revolutionary characters. I hate the elements from which they spring, as I love the calm progress of regular improvement. But revolution has come, and I suspect that in its melancholy annals Butler will occupy a broader and perhaps a less odious page than is commonly supposed." He has struck a medal f>r the negro soldiers, with Fero lis libertus prcviniet for the motto, and "he has made the motto," says Mr Goldwin Smith, "a practical truth." This is, we believe, a true estimate of Butler. But even now, in all hft speeches, the man whom a great revolutionary exigency has driven to liberate the slaves for ulterior political ends, is a statesman who would care little for their liberty if it were not bound up with tho welfare of the American Republic.'