The New=Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 6, Issue 458, 4 September 1850, Page 2

The New=Zealander.

Be just and fear not : Let all the ends thou aims't at, be thy Country's, Thy God's, and Tiuth's.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1850.

The Sittings of the Supreme Court for the despatch of Criminal Business commenced on Monday, and was not concluded yesterday, the case of the Queen on the prosecution of Ed-, wabd Rich v. Joseph Smith and Benjamin Campbell remaining. to be tried this morning. A report of the proceedings on Monday and J yesterday will be found in our other columns, j A Notice from P. Berry, Esq., Sheriff, was | posted at the Court House yesterday, intimating that there being no Civil cases to be tried, the attendance of Jurors &c, will not be required on Saturday the 7th inst. We understand that the important 'case of Whitaker, and Heale v. the Kawau Mining Company has been referred to arbitration. I

The accounts from Ireland represent the farmers in various parts of the country as having recovered to a gratifying extent frdfl* the apathy — approaching to despair — into which the receiat failures of the, potato cr<^ and the general distress had cast many of them -, and as pursuing their Spring agricultural operations with revived and hopeful energy. The Dublin correspondent of the Times says,— "For the last five years there have not been such cheering indications of industrial progress as are to be found in the agricultural reports of the present month (March); and in all quarters the farmers, talcing advantage of an unprecedented run of fine open weather, are represented as being actively engaged in making preparations for the ensuing harvest." Another report (in the Britannia) states,—" The results of the labours of the practical agricultural instructors have been very gratifying, especially in inducing the farmers to adopt the green crop system to a certain extent. The generous example of the Queen and Prince 'Albert m subscribing a sum of £50 towards proyidii/g seed for green crops for the peasantry in ttte south and west t* lreland, will probably have an excellent effect in promoting so usefiU an object." It is added. " Few, if any, are disposed to leave the country this year, and the people are beginning to be more contented with their condition at home, however wretched that is." Several of the Judges at the Spring Assizes congratulated the Grand Juries on the marked decrease of crime, and the evident growth of industrious habits amongst the peasantry of their respective counties. The formerly tranquil North, however, continued to be disturbed by agitation respecting the relations between landlord, and tenzM? am! agrarian outrages were numerous. Incendiary fires were lighted in many parts of Ulster, and the tenantry hitherto esteemed most attached and respectable, very generally manifested reluctance to take steps towards bringing the persons engaged in them to justice. The Marquis of Londonderry had brought this subject officially before the Lord Lieutenant, commenting especially on the vehement style of speaking which some Presbyterian and Roman Catholic clergymen had used at farmers' meetings. Lord Clarendon, in reply, while he declined " calling the attention of the General Assembly, or any other governing body of Presbyterians, to such secular matters," added this dignified but severe rebuke, applicable to but too many Ministers in Ireland — " On more than one occasion the Lord Lieutenant has had to regret the use of indiscreet language by Ministers of the Gospel of different persuasions in this country, when taking part in proceedings unconnected with their duties ; but experience has proved to him that the good example of the great majority of the clergy of all churches in Ireland, and the disapprobation with which they view the violent interference of clergymen in secular [ matters, operate as the most effectual checks upon a force which must always be injurious to the cause of truth and social order." The Marquis of Londonderry having urged the same complaints against the clergy in his place in the House of Lords, received letters purporting to be from two Presbyterian Ministers, Mr. Dobbin, and Mr. R. Rutherford, demandI ing that he should either withdraw or substantiate his charges. The noble Marquis called the attention of the House to these letters as constituting a breach of privilege, in which light they were severely animadverted on by several Peers. It turned out, however, that the" letter to which Mr. Rutherford's name had been affixed was an entire forgery, although he undoubtedly had used very violent language in public. Some of the landlords were doing their utmost to meet every reasonable claim on the part of their tenants ; others seemed disposed Shy lock -like to hold to the sternest and most oppressive letter of " the bond." It is scarcely to be expected, however, that landed proprietors generally will accede to such propositions as those thus summed up by the Rev. Mr. Rutherford :—": — " All the difference between the value of the land as it exists in its present state of cultivation, and its value in a state of primeval barrenness, is the tenant's inalienable property. The value of the soil in a state of primeval barrenness is the property of the landlord ; and all additional acquired value is the property of the tenant farmer, It would

be more consistent that, if either party were to leave the land, the landlords instead of the tenants should be expatriated." The contemplated abolition of the liishviceroyalty was much discussed. In the Pro"vkices, it was generally regarded either with indifference or with approbation. The Belfast Northern Whig (a very influential journal) was prominent in expressing satisfaction at the prospect of Ireland's being " raised from provincial degradation to Imperial dignity — from the rank of Canada, the Cape, New Zealand, or Heligoland, with its particular Governor— to the enviable position of being part and parcel of the empire." In the metropolis, however, an active oppositiou to the measure was in progress. A•' Dublin Traders' Protection Society" had been organized and public meetings had been called to protest against the change, as " calculated to inflict serious injury on the already depressed trade of the city." On the general question, the Dublin Evening Mail has the following pointed remarks, which derive force from what those who know what the Viceregal Court has been will recognise as their general truthfulness : — *' That the removal of the* Irish Court'— as it wai termed— will have an injurious effect upon the shopkeepers of Dublin cannot, we imagine be denied ; but in placing the different ranks of society in their proper and natural positions, we think the change will be beneficial. We have long been of opinion that among the most injnrious effects of the Union was the removal of the higher titled and unfitted aristoracy, and the consequent elevation of the subordinate classes into a sphere higher than their natural position warranted— whether we should regard their rank or their means of expenditure. Hence engendered an overweening con« ceit— an impertinent I assumption ; and hence frequently followed pecuniary cmbarrasments. Take up any Hit of those who attended the levees and drawing-rooms at the 'Castle' for the last few years, and ask whether any of the corresponding ranks in London would be silly enough to present themselves, or would be tolerated, at St. James's. A Court for the great mass of persons who crowded the Castle Presence Chamber on State occasions, was in truth ' a mockery, a delusion, and a snare.' The sooner they are seperated by an arm of the sea from such temptation, the more respectable figures are they likely to make in their proper stations. There will still be many whose rank and fortune entitle them to be presented at Court ; and we trust they will find various opportunities of being so pvesented where pretenders to the familiar notice of royalty or 'its semblable 1 will Understand *ha£ there ii no place for them. Let our young gents th'en m ppseof renting or borrowing a suit of clothes and wasting \heir pocket-money upon the hire of a covered car, stay at home and drain their farms. Let ladies of congenial rank exhibit their accomplishments in those family and social circles where they are qualified to shine, and not show off their feathers and their paces before giggling aides-de-camp and sneeiinghuesars. Let them look after their domestic affairs and have no duns at their fathers, doois, and they may then walk erect, and disregard kings, kai« sers, and their shadows. It will be no loss to themselves or to the country that Mr. and Mrs. Molasses shall remain behind their counters, Counsellor and Mrs. Sputreall keep quietly if not contentedly at home, and Dr. and Mrs. M'Enema cease to figure in the list of presentations." * v ' The Sales of properties under the Encunv bered Estates Court had so far proceeded satisfactorily. Fair prices had been realized, and it vva3 gratifying to find that in several instances the purchasers were the actual occupants of the farms, who by pievious industry had acquired the means of becoming themselves the proprietors of the lands which they had cultivated. Serious disturbances in the County Down had been apprehended on the 17th of March, (St. Patrick's Day)— the Ribandmen having made hostile preparations to take revenge on the Orangemen for the oatastrophe at Dolly's Brae. The new Party Processions Act, however, had become law ; and the Government avowed a determination to place it in full force. Troops were sent to the neighbourhood where collisions were dreaded, and the precautionary measures proved successful, as the day passed over without any violation of the public tranj quility. Mr. John O'Connell's Ghost of a Repeal Association had nearly vanished into thin air. The " Rent " had dwindled down to next to nothing, and bankruptcy loomed over Conciliation Hall. A new form of agitation had appeared, however, in the shape of a " Democratic Association," the orators of which declaimed, amidst the lusty cheers of their adherents, about the principles and the treatment of John Mitchell, Smith OBrien, and the other " expatriated patriots of 1848." The Association was not likely to prove anything more than a bubble destined very soon to burst.

Recent Deaths of Notable Persons. — Although happily we have not a long list of names to include under this heading at present, yet there are a few of considerable mark in several departments of notability contained in the recent obituaries. Literature has lost one of its brightest ornaments in the venerable William Wordsworth, — a poet who climbed " the steep ascent of fame" under many difficulties, from the want of preparedness in the reading public to appreciate the deep and high aspirations of his genius; but who lived to find himself near — if not absolutely at — the summit ; a position to which, no doubt, he was greatly helped by the early, persevering, and enthusiastic support of his illustrious friend, Professor Wilson of Blackwood's Magazine, — the most profound ) and discriminating of contemporaneous critics. Though he was compelled (in his own words) " to reconcile himself for a season to few and scattered hearers," his reputation steadily rose, and his name will undoubtedly go down to

posterity amongst those of the genuine Poets of his day, — a band rapidly diminishing, without, we fear, any immediate prospect of its being adequately supplied, multitudinous as are the writers of attractive and, in many respects, meritorious verses.* The death of Sir William Allan, President of the Academy in Edinburgh, has deprived art in Scotland of " a worthy and respected chief." Bred a coach-painter, he marked out for himself a higher path, and pursued it with untiring zeal — aided by the friendship of Wilkie and Sir Walter Scott — until he acquired the high position in his profession which for years has been universally accorded to him. The papers say, " Allan may be said to have died at his easel : when he became too weak for easy motion, he had his bed carried into his painting" room, and it was there, gazing upon his last and unfinished work, that he expired." We have also to record the deaths of Sir John Macdonald, G. C. 8., a brave soldier since 1795, when he entered the army, and the efficient Adjutant General to the Forces, to which office he was appointed in 1825, having been Deputy Adjutant General for ten years before :—Sir: — Sir Archibald Galloway, K. C. 8., Chairman of the Hon. East India Company, who died after a few hour's illness : — the Very Rev. J. Merewetiier, Dean of Hereford, who acquired so much notoriety by his opposition I to the appointment of Dr. Hampden as Bishop iof Hereford ; he died of disease of the heart :— I Dr. Crucefix, eminent in the Masonic body for his learning in everything pertaining to Freemasonry, and especially for those benevolent exertions by which he succeeded in establishing the " Asylum for distressed and aged Freemasons, and also the " Masonic Widow's Fund" :— at Tunbridge Wells, aged 75, and after 57 yeafs service, Lieutenant - General Durnford, Colonel Commandant of the Corps ofj Royal Engineers : — at St James's Palace, Sir Thomas Marrable, Secretary to the Board of Green Cloth, in the Lord Steward's Department ; he was knighted in 1840, after 3-1 year's service : — Lieutenant-General It. Crawford, of the late Royal Irish Artillery, who may be remembered as having been actively engaged in Ireland during the rebellion of 1798 : — in London, David Stewart, a journeyman printer, known in literature by various contributions to the Naval and Military Magazine and other periodicals, and especially by a series of interesting papers descriptive of the life of a sailor in the Royal Navy, which originally appeared in Blackwoad's Magazine under the title of " The Man-o'-War's Man," and were subsequently published in volume ; he died in poverty in St. Bartholomew's Hospital after undergoing an operation for a painful disease : — Madame Dulcken, well known ■at rhe London Concerts as *:nc ot' the ntQftt brilliant and accomplished performers on the piano-forte :— Madame Tussaud, whose Wax Work Exhibition in Baker Street has lonf* been one of the most popular "sights" in the great Metropolis ; she was a native of Berne in Switzerland, but passed most of her early years in Paris, where she received instructions from her uncle, M. Curtius, " astiste to Louis XVI." In 1802 she came to England, where she thenceforward resided, and prospered — her exhibition being one of those which visitors from the country seldom failed to patronize. She lived to the age of 90.

Mr. Heald, M.P., on Religion in New Zealand* — lit a Report of a Wesleyan Missionary Meeting at Stockport, contained in one of the papers last received, we find the following remarks in a speech by James Heald, Esq., the able and philanthropic member for that borough, which we extract as likely to interest many of our readers. The hon. gentleman said — " Nothing could give him more confidence in (he prosperity and glory of Britain, than to see the nation baptized in the holy spirit of our religion, and diffusing the benefit of the glorious Gospel to the ends of the earth. In this town, upwards of thirty years ago, they had been visited by one of the first missionaries to New Zealand, the Rev. Samuel Leigh ; and some of them might remember the scenes of cannibalism which he then described to the congregation. What was the present position of that colony 1 One fact spoke very well for its religious character — the Legislature of New Zealand, after the pattern of the House of Commons, commenced their proceedings with prayer. (Hear, hear.) The Agents of our own, and the Church Missionary Society, had taken their stand in that interesting portion of Her Majesty's Dominions. And Mr. Gladstone had said the other day that the honour of adding it to the Crown of England, belonged exclusively to the Missionaries." It will be noticed as an indication that there are eyes at home attentively observing the public proceedings here at the Antipodes, that Mr. Heald, not merely gives (as many others have done) a just meed of praise to the Missionaries, but also that he specially refers to the regulation for the opening of the Legislative Council with prayer,—as adopted last year on the proposition of the Colonial Treasurer.

* The last accounts left little doubt that the name of Thos. Mooue would soon be added to the necrological list. He had been confined to his room at Sloperton Cottage for several weeks, and was stated to be iapidly sinking. The Queen had just bestowed a pension pf dGIOO a year on the poet's wife, Mrs. Bessy Moore, " in consideration of the literary merits of Jiex husband, and life in/am state of health." (

Tea Meeting This Evening. — Our advertizing columns contain a notification that a Tea Meeting will be held this evening in the School-room adjoining the Wesleyan Chapel ; when the numerous persons who have heen gratified and profited by the Rev. Stephen Rabone's ministrations during his acceptable and useful sojourn here, will have an opportunity of meeting that reverend gentleman before his departure to his new sphere of duty in New South Wales.