EXTRACTS. THE STATE OF EUROPE. France. (From the Times, April 28.)

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 356, 18 September 1849, Page 3

EXTRACTS. THE STATE OF EUROPE. France. (From the Times, April 28.)

The following is our correspondent's letter, dnted Thursday, 5 i*.m. :—: — •' The dissensions of the Bonaparte family to which I alluded some time since, as aft'oiding subject of legret not only to the pcisonal and political fiiend«of the President of the Republic, hut also to all moderate men who sincerely desiie a return to older and tranquillity, are made still more evident by the following announcement in the official organ of the Government this morning :— " ' A telegraphic despatch having announced the arrival at Bayonne of M Napoleon Bonaparte, Ambassador at Madrid, proceeding to Paris without leave, M. Napoleon Bonaparte is Goniidered as having resigned, and his functions have been revoked by a decree of the President of the Republic, adopted this day in a Council of Ministers.' •• Letters from Madrid would account for i his nbrupt departure from the post which his Government assigned him, by the illness of the father of the late ambassador. This, of coune is only a flimsy pretext, as the «>x-King of Westphalia is in the enjoyment of as good health as hit advanced age permits him. Long before Napoleon Bonapaite quitted Paris for the Spanish capital, I mentioned the probability of his stay there l»ei»g short, owing to his anxiety to be in France at the period of the election!. But it w-s never anticipated that it would he so brief, and, least of all, tint he would have disregarded the ordinary rule of demanding leave of absence. The cavie of this irregularity is unquestionably the reprimand administered to him by hii cousin for the indiscreet language he was reported to have made use in his passage through Bordeaux. It will be remembered that a contradiction was given to the story by the electoral committee in that city; but, I am assured, that the words imputed (o him were spoken, not before the committee as a body, but in private at his hotel to live or six individuals, who very indiscreetly made it pub.ic. The President of the Rojniblic is not the only person of the family who feels annoyed at the citcumitancp. Jerome Uon.ipaite is t-aul to be equally vexed ut the conduct of his son, and the Piinccsa Mallnlde hus given her opinion on the subject of her brother'! indiscretion in no very equivocal manner. " A pemsal of the subjoined 'Order of the D,iy' ol Gencial Oudinot to hh army, would s>hoiv that the military expedition to Civita Vecclua, is Icsh diiccicd agiinst the Roman Republic or lo*aidb the icsioiation of tho Pope, (though this w ill no doubt be the immediate result) than against Austria. TVI y Ltters for the last few days will hate prepared jou iui such un ovcnt :•— " ' Soldiers! the President of the Rp|iub!ic has en-(■j-unted to me the command of the expeditionary corps of the Mediterranean. This honour impose^ upon me duties of an arduous naluie. Your patrio ism will aid me in fulfilling them. The Government, resolved to maiutfiin in all parts our ancient and legitiina c influen< c, hab been unwilling to leave the destinies of the peo) le of It»ly at the mercy of a fbieign power, or of a jmity forming only a minority. It confides to us the, flag of France, in Older that it may be planted on the Roman icrritoiy as a marked testimony of our sympathy. SuMicrs and sailors ! children a? you are of the same family, you will exercise your duties und your cflbrta in commen, and this fraternal feeling will enable you to support cheei full}', all daugeis, piiviuinns, and fatigues. On the soil on which you are about to descend, you will encounter at cvciy step, monuments and lecollections which powerfully stimulate youi instinctive love of gloiy. Military honour demands discipline as much as hraveiy. Let this never be forgotten. Your lathers gained the rare privilege of caus ing the French name to be chetished wherever they Jought. Like tliem, you will respect the property am) the customs of friendly countries. In her tiolicitnde for them the Government Ims prescribed thnt all the expenses of the army shall be immediately paid in money. You wi'l, on «H occasions, udi pt as the rules of your conduct these principle* of liii>h momlify. 13y your arms and by your example, you will cause the dignity of the people to be ieipec'c'l. It does not suffer less fiom license than Jrum despotism. Italy will thus owe to you what France has known how to conquer foi herself— order, with liberty 1 " ' Oudinot de Rkggio, " 'General-in-Chief. c < • Marseilles, April 20. "

Tub Kingdom of the Two Ficilies. The following letter, d.itcd Catnnin, the Bih, ond written by an oiliccr of the Neapolitan army, appears in the Deliats — " In the morning of the 6ih Apiil, near Baltiati, on o-fr of the slopes of Mount Etna, our vanguard wn6 briskly attucked by Ihe enemy, who had taken up a position with two field-pieces. Our attil'ery soon dismounted them. The first hi igade advanced and gained the village after a bloody battle. Thence we atlvunccd on the heights which crown the eastern gate of Cataninj and "which were defended by a battery. Here the Sicilian 1 * made a firm stand, but our howitzers diilodged them, and our chasseurs turned their batteiy, nnd made iliennelve9 masters of it, and at the same time a squadron of Lanceis charged tlmr fiont in the high road. From this point to the entrance into Catania our troops went down in deuble quick time, passing the first barricades. But in the town a desperate conflict commenced. 'Ihe main stieet, called the Stcsicosch, was intercepted by harncades defended in great pail by ior.igners; the houses were filled with men firing upon us in every direction, and the Sicilians hud, t t was said, undermined several houses, with the intent of blowing us up when we should have taken them. We advanced, therefore, step by step through their fire, buTniu<? their houics before us, in order to explode the mines before going any further, and at the Bume time dislodging the emmy. In tins advance along the main Btieet, we took three pieces ol cannon. From some unknown cause one of the ammunition wa o gou caught fire, and a tremendous, cxpksiou cii

sued, throwing up clouds of red smoke. At first it was believed to be an explosion of a mine, and our soldiers weie for a moment 10 much astonished by it, that they faltered and were thrown into disorder, till the commander-in-chief came up and reassured them. * Upon thK they reiumcd the advance. Houses and palaces continued to &eep up a well-sustained firing upott us from both sides of the street, while at the end of it a buttery of jfour guns thundered away on our front. At lut, at eight in the evening, after a whole day of most horrible fighting, the enemy gave np possession of this most unfortunate city. We had 350 men put hors de combat, "of whom about GO were killed. The enemy left 182 dead in the streets, besides the wounded, the number of whom is not known. We took 300 prisoners. Such is the luminary of the attack upon this city of 25,000 souls, fortified by enormous barricades, and armed with -18 piece* of cannon. The town suffered severely, and many of its palaces are in ashes. May these dreadful consequences fall upon the heads of those who lighted up the fratricidal war."

The Roman States. The Risorgimcnto, of Turin, of the 20th April, states that the Pope intends retiring to Avignon, while the foreign troojn will occupy tiis State*. He intends hodling an oteumenic council there. A letter from Gaeta of the H-th April says : " Admiral Buudin, not wishing that France should remain behindhand in the marks of sympathy given to Plug IX. by Chiitendom, thought fit to «end to Gaela one of the vessels of his squadron, to appear amongst the other ships of war. The lena, CupUin Duquesnes was the vessel sent to fulfil this honourable mission. The day after the arrival of the vessel the officers were presented by the captain to the Pope, who in hit turn signified hiß intention to visit the lena. Accordingly, on Easter Tuesday, the day which he had fixed on, his Holiness, with a numerous suite, came to the quay, when he was received by the first lieutenant. The moment the Pope entered the boat, which was to carry him to the vessel, the Papal colours were displayed from the prow, and saluted will) ninety guns ftom the ship. 'I he King of Naples arid his brother, the Count de Trapani, were seated on the left of his Holiness. Several other vcisels carried out the diplomatic corps. Captain Duquesne received liis Holiness at the foot of the accommoddtion-ladder, whilst M. d'llarcourt, ambassador of Fiance at the Holy See, M. de Raynev-il, minut.er of Frauce at Naples, and Cardinal Dupont, archbishop of Houses, were at the top with the officers of the vessel. The moment the Holy Father appeared every one on deck knelt down, and received his bene diction. The Pope and the royal family of Naples then went down to the captain's cabin, where his Holiness found some thousands of medals and chapelets, and which the crew desired to have blessed. After a few minutes repose, Pius IX. expressed a desire to visit the vessel, and was led over every part of it. In the hospital he addressed some words of consolation to the patients, and even distributed chapclets amongst them. The King of Naplci accompanied his Holiness in his examination of the vessel. The Pope even visited the prisons, and, at his request, the men in confinement were art at liberty, The Pope expressed himself surpri-cd and delighted at the perfect order and completene^ of the arrangements in every part of the v«srl. When he again ascended on deck, in picsence of the whole crew assembled, the diplomutic corps, the cardinals, &c, the Sovereign Pontiff gave his solemn benediction to those before him, pronouncing the sacamcntal words, " Adjutorium nottrum," &c, to which the numerous cardinals responded. The Holy Fathei, well pleased with his reception, and touched with tlie bcnlimonts winch lie had excited in the minds of all the cicw, thin withdrew in the midst of a salute similar to that which had been fired at his coming, all the vessels in the roadstead taking up the fire in turn. I wo duys after, the Pope desning to leave to the lena a in.uk of his paternal kindness, sent to the captain seveial mcJuls of value, bearing hi* effigy, and chnpelets for every one on board, from the oflleers to the cabin boys."

Prince A might. — A visit of Prince Albert to Great iritri'by, to lay the foundation of the new clocks there, 8 of'greit importance as marking the era of the com* no' nccment of a new comnru'rcial e«tabliihmcnt on the noith-eastern coast, winch, if the giandeur of its plan and the extent of its field for development be considered, may be expected one day to rival at lenit, if not surp iss, Liverpool itself, as an emporium of cammerce. t onnected by railway with the great teats of our national manufacturest it is calculaied to become ai a port on the eaitern shorei of the kingdom what Liverpool is on the western. The Prince viai received with i he mostenthus astic we'eome throughout his journey, and his proceedings, especially in a ipecch at the dinner whxh succeeded the ceremonUl, were marked with great good sense. — Atlas, April 21. IIIEIiAND,— SIU RoBEKT PcKl/s COLONIZATION Plan.— Almost without exception the whole press of Ireland has " pionounced" in favour of the coonpre. hrns ye project broached by the ex-Promter for the regeneration of Ireland. Whig, Tory, and Repealer are, for once, agreed, at leant as to the |>iiuri,)le of the measure. "It is," snys a journal, the organ of the northern I'resbyterians, '' nothing leai than a revolution on a small seale — the abolition of feudalism and scifdom — to make way for the heaMiful action of intell gence, industry, and capital." The repeal paj era ate still moie enthubiugtic in their encomiums. — Atlas, April 7. The reports of the piogresß of spring woik in Ireland continue to be extremely satisfactory, far more so than could have been anticipated from the previous complaint* of the inabilities of the email farmers to till their lauds. Extensive preparation!, are, however, making all over the country for another trial of the potato, the* people having plucked up courage on account of die scud having kept so well through the pait winter. It is now stated that the scarcity was little more than artificial, and that now, potatoes are not only abundant, but of a far better quality than usual at this advanced season. Father Mntthew in sojourning for some few days in Dublin milking preparations for his i rip to America. He succeeded a shot t time liuce to the Castle Lake distillery, a very valuable prop rty ; but sooner t bun have it employed in making wlnhkey, he broke up the concern at a considerable lo's, letting part of it as a com mill. lln health is quite restored. Tiiadb and Navigation.— The urmual return laid before Parliament under this head iiai just been published ; and it shows the serious diminution in our foreign trade and internal consumption during the past year, whilst, at the same time, it gives evidence of a rapid revival in the concluding month of the year. The declared valua of the principal articles of British and Irish produce au'l manufactures exported was ai follow*;— In 1846,^51,227,060; in 1847, .£51,(105, 798; and in 1841, £46,407,930; hut in the concluding month of each year the value of the exports was ai follows :— £3,647,647 in December, 10 IC ; £3,1iG0, 444 in 1847 ; and £i, 249, M 5 in 1848. The re export! of foreign and colonial wool (chiefly colonial) are rapidly on the increase; in 1846 they were:},oll,93olbi. ; in 1847, 4,809,725 lbs. ; in 1848, 0,575,581 1 u. Ihe

imports of foreign mid colonial sheep's wool were, in 184G, 65.255,462 lbs. ; in 1847, 52 592,598 lbs. ; in 1818, 70 521,957 lbs.- Leeds Met curt/. Floating Church for, Seamen anb Boatmen.— This singular edifice now floats on the w&ter9 of the Delaware River, at Bordentown ; and, in a few weeks, we are infonnsd, will be towed to Philadelphia, and moored permanently at one of the wharfs designated by the city authorities, for the benefit of the seamen and boatmen who frequent that port- The seats q.ie all to be free. The Floating Church wnt designed and built by a self taught architect and builder of New York, Mr. Clement L. Denning'on, for the- Churchmans' Missionary Association for the seamen of the put of Philadelphia. The interior decorations arc executed by 11. and O. Ficht, pf Philadelphia, who painted in rasco the ceiling of Our Saviour, in New York, which has been so much admired 8s a work of art. The Floating Church will he a great novelty and ornament in Philadelphia, where so few spires are to be seen ; and, located at the foot of one of the level streets, will be discerned at the distance of a mile in the centre from its locality. By the published documents of the association, the following gentlemen compose the Board of Managers, by whose efforts the edifice has been erected, assisted by benevolent individuals of that city who feel an interest in the religious benefit of the class for whom it is intended : — Right Rev. Bishop Potter, D.D., James C. Booth, William C. Kent, John M. Collum, liaac Welsh, Colhoun, G. H. Mitchell, Edward L. Clark, T. R. Wucherer, Joseph R. Ma->sey, Joseph E. Hover, William G. Allen, James M. Aertsen, George S. Twelli. The Chaplain in charge of the Church is the Rev. Mr. Trapier, formerly a Lieutenant in the Nary, and now an ordained minister of the Episcopal Church. The building is firmly fastened on a substantial deck 38 feet by 90, with guards extending 8 feat outside, around it, and resting on two boats of 80 tons each, placed ten feet apart, and strongly connected together. The Church will scat 500 persons, and it to have a fine-toned organ and bell. The top of the spire is 70 feet from the deck ; and the edifice is 32 feet wide by 85 long, including the vestry. — Illustrated News.

Frightful Accidt.nt at Sierra. Leonm.— A most frightful accident occurred a^iore at Sierra Leone, on the 20lh February, whicli caused the death of fourteen soldiers of the West India Regiment serving in that colony. The party were employed in clearing out the contents of a quantity of rockets condemned as unserviceable, when the missiles in the hand of the men by some means became ignited, and went off, communicating the explosion to the heap of powder, and other detonating composition! in heaps and strewed about the place, when a most terrific result ensued. The building in which the operations were going on was blown into the air, and with it the bodies ot all employed in it, whose mangled remains presented an appearance far too horrible to attempt to describe Fourteen out of the party died almost immediately ; only one survived to relate the manner of the occurrence.

Female Immigration. — An exceedingly valuable i institution, called the British Ladies' Emigration Society, has bceu established in London, for the purpose of ameliorating the condition of female emigrants on their passage to the colony. The management of the single females has hitherto been the most difficult duty which has devolved upon the. surgeons supeiintendent and captains of immigrant ships, and the want of em ploymfin during the long voyage is found to be the fruitful source of quarrelling and bud feeling among them, and in a few instances of very injurious elFects on their after career. Many of these young women, brought together from homes of poverty, from palish unions, from active services, und various occupations in agricultural districts, and in town*, and thus broken off from old home', ol) habit*, old associations, they ■re placed in a ship vrherc all their necessaries are providedj without the exaction of labour in return ; and during a four months, passed in listle^snesi and ease, under manifold temptation! to evil, it has been found that habits of idleness and irregularity are contracted and confirmed, moral obligations frequently neglected, and dispositions to vice often indulged. The Society proposes to meet and obviate these evils, by introducing an organized system of industrial classes ou board I each ship, for which purpose supplies of useful materials for employment, cast-off clothes, and stuff for clothing are solicited. At Plymouth, a Mrs. Ferguion, who wai the first matron appointed t1)t 1 ) a convict ship, under the auspices of the late Mrs. Fry, is acting under the direction of a ladies' depot committee, in diltributing those materials and forming industrial classes among the emigrnntH ; lirailar arrangements were soon to be completed at JX'ptford, and it was proposed that, for the more entire development of the work, a regularly trained matron would accompany each ship carrying female emigrants. The society seemed in vigoroui operation, and it is established under most noble patronage. British Trad is with South Amkrica. — It was stated by Lord Pulmeraton on Monday evening that their was no obitmction to British commcice at Buenos Aye "Si ani that an acount which he had received compared to hunger and thirst the avidity will) which all thecagoees of Jliitish Ships ani ving at Brazil were purchased before they were landed. — Atlas, April 7.

Ay Inland Ska ? — A more intimate acquaintance with the opinions of Flinders, as lo the probable character of the continent, from tiie charnracter and appearenco of the coast along the gicat Australian Bight ; the information I have collected as to the extent of the fossil bed, and my own past experience have led me to the following conclusions. That the continent of Australia has been injected to great changes from subignr* ouB agency, and that it has been bodily raised, if I may so express myself, to its present* level above the tea ; that, at tar as we can judgo, the north and northeast portions of the continent are higher than the southern or south-west parts of it, and that there has constantly been a cuirent or rush of waters from the one point to the other— that this current vr«s divided in its progress into two branches, by hills, or some other intei veniag obstacle* and that one branch of it, following the line of the Darling, discharged itself into the sea, through the opening between the western shores of Encounter Bay and Cape Bcrnouilli ; that the other, taking its course westwaid, reached it through the great Australian Bight. From what I can judge, the dcs°rt I traversed is about thebreedth of that remarkable line of coast, and I am inclined to think that it ((he desert) retains its breadth the^whole way, and it comes gradually round to the south, thus forming a double curve, from the- Gulf of Carpentaria, on the north-cast angle of the continent, to the Greut Bight on its south-west coast ; but my readrra will, as they advance into my narrative see the grounds upon which I have rested these ideas. If such an hypothesis is correct, it necessanly follows, that the north and north-west coasts of the continent were ouce seperated from the south and cust coasts by water ; and ns I have stated my impression that the current from the north, passed through vast openings, both to the- eastward and westward of the province of South Australia, it as necessarily follows, that that province must also have been an iiliad. I hope it will be uader»t,o}d tl *t I

stnrto with the supposition that the continent of Aub tralia was formerly nn archipelago of islands, but that some convulsions by whicli the central land has been raised, lias caused the changes I have suggested. It was still a matter of conjecture what the real character of central Australia really was, for its depths had been but buperficially explored before my recent attempt. My own opinion, when 1 commenced my last cxpedi* tion, inclined me to the belief, and perluijm this opjr nion was t ostered by the hope that such would prove to bo the case, aq well as by the leports of th« distant nntires, which invariably went to conliim it, that the interior was occupied by a sea of greater or less extent, and very probably by large tiacts of deseit country. With such a conviction 1 commenced my recent labors, although I was not prepared for the extent of desert I encountered — with such a conviction I returnsd to the abodes of civilized man. I am still of opinion thai there is more than one sea in the interior of the Au9traliau continent, but ouch may not be the case. AH I can sayis— wonldithatlhaddibLovered^such a',feature, for I could then have done more upon its waters tenfold than I was enabled to accomplish in the gkomy and burning deserts over which I wandered during; more than thirteen months. — Captain Shirt. Mineral Discovermis.— .We are assured by the ironmongeis in town, that for a length of time past it has been impossible to keep a supply of tomahawks in anything like a ratio to the demand, owing to bushmen o r every class and degree before leaving Geelong taking with them two or three of these implements when they leave town, lor the purpose of delving for and seeking ! out minerals ami other valuable deposits, It is rarely now that a nock of sheep is to be met with grazing on the run with the shepherd attending to his charge. On making a searching s.veep round the locality, the shepherd may be seen chopping into a heap of sand, rock, loam, clay, or some other lubstunce of a rocky, clayey, sandy, or earthy nature, with the most intense and absorbing intei eat. Something of the same kind occurs with the hut-keeper. No sooner is the shepherd " out" that he is " off" to some mysterious locality, where ho has " twigged something that's precious like.'' In fact, like anything but what lie takes it to be. A bullock driver now not untrequcnlly takes a whole day to make " Redman" and " Briudle" go a distance that " a piir o' leaders that warnl to be beat nowhere t is side o' th« countiy" would formerly do> in two hours. Not because the cattle go any worse than they were wjnt, hut that the driver " has seed something in the bend of that there blind creek, close by old Joe's hut, that looked very like something he once seed i» towns as they called ore." All this, and much worsB than this, we arc informed, daily takes place in the bush. — Geelong Advertiser. A change is about to be made in the organization of the Stamp Office arrangement. Head distributors, of which there has usually been one to each country, are to be discontinued, and the sub-distributors, of. which there is one in most market towns, are to be put into direct communication with the commissioners of inland revenue. The collectors of excise are to perform the duty of overlooking the stocks and sales of the distributors, which duty has hitherto been discharged by the Inspectors of Stamps. Lord Camoys Ins invented a syphon for drawing oft' milk from beneath the sui face of the cream, and thus completely separating the two liquids, bv the simplest means, and with the least possible trouble. Measures are being taken to raise i\ subscription for the erection of a monument to the memory o£ Oliver Cromwell, at Sf. Ives, where the protector resided at the commencement of his public career, and where his signature still exists in the church booki. Within the last eighteen months eleven poor in< spectors and vice-guardians have died from fever, contracted in the discharge of their perilous duties in Ireland. Amongst the number was Major Fitzgerald, inspector of Sligo, eldest ion of the late knight o£ Kerry. Canada. Company. — Ths annual meeting of the) Canady Company, for the purpose of receiving the statement of accounts, und choosing new Directors for those retiring from office, has been huld in their Officer in St. Helen's Place. This Company has suffered in common with every other interest, in consequence of the depression of business in the British provinces during the past year ; bur, nevertheless, the gta'e of their aiTiirs is, upon the whole, highly encouragingThe lolloping is a summary of, their accounts: — The sales of lands (Crown reserves and Huron tract) have amounted to 13,123 acres, producing £9ft65 ; land Icaiei), 59, 3^7, producing a rental of i, J 23G3_ Total (.old and leased, 72,46) acres. Cost of management in London and Cumda, ,-£1 1,414. Total assets, £951,054; total liabilities. {£441.302 ; leaving n net surplus oi £009,752.