WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1851.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 304, 12 February 1851, Page 2

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 185 1.

By the arrival of the Emma yesterday afternoon we have been put in possession of New South Wales papers to the 28th ult. Up to the 27th the last English news at Sydney had been derived from California papers taken thither by the Moa from Auckland ; but on that day intelligence to the 24th of October was received there. We find little, however, in addition to -what we have already been enabled to lay before our readers. The Queen and Royal Family had returned! from Scotland. The Revenue exhibited a decrease on the October quarter of £289,000. The deficit was attributed chiefly to the remission of the buck duties. On the whole year, there appeared an increase of £645,000. The long talked of appointment of Roman Catholic Bishops in England had taken place. Dr. Wiseman had been created a Cardinal, and nominated by the Pope "Archbishop of Westminster ;" and other Vicars Apostolic were to take the titles of Bishop of Liverpool, Northampton, &c. Protectionist and Financial Reform meetings continued to be the only notable political movements, and there was not much notable even in them The number of murders, robberies, and other crimes reported from the country was painfully affecting the public mind. Trade was prosperous •. the last Gazette had only contained the name of a single bankrupt.

The Sydney papers are nearly barren of news. The sixty-third Anniversary of the Colony was celebrated by a Regatta, Races, and other demonstrations, on Monday the 27th ult., the actual Anniversary having fallen on the previous Sunday. The attention of many was turned to the necessity of draining and cleansing the city of Sydney, as precautions against the possible appearance of Cholera. The Herald devotes considerable space (both in its leading articles and its u Original Correspondence ") to the su bject. _______________________

The Report of the progress of the Auckland Mechanics' Institute which appeare i in our last, could not fail to afford gratification to all who desire the intellectual advancement of our growing and rising community. Twelve months ago, when we cheerfully rendered such aid as warm advocacy in these columns could

afford to the movement for the re- organization of the Institution, we felt and expressed a confident anticipation that the effort would be attended with a cheering measure of success ; but we may now confess that we did not antii cipate so much within the first year as has | happily been realized. Sometimes it is found i more difficult to resuscitate an establishment that has fallen into decay, than even to initiate one altogether new; and in a small community, the materials which can be rendered I beneficially available — the resources which can be continuously drawn upon, — for the sustentation of such an undertaking as this, are necessarily limited. But the work was set i about in a hearty spiiit. Although some of i the members of last year's committee did not labour to any very harassing extent for the advancement of the object, yet a sufficient number for the effective transaction of business, were diligent and zealous : — although all who very expected or solicited to deliver Lectures did not find or make it convenient to render this specially desirable service, yet a considerable number of Lectures were given, embracing topics of varied interest : — the Institute was fortunate in obtaing an Honorary Secretary who laboured with constant assiduity in the performance of his duties ;•— and the issue of ihe whole is satisfactory as respects the past, and encouraging as respects the future. Much, veiy much indeed, remains to be done ; but a good, and we believe permanent foundation has been laid. The building perhaps needs enlargement. — it certainly needs improvement in its ventilation, and in the accommodation for full audiences ; but it is now, within and without, in a strikingly better condition than it was a year ago. The library is still little better than a nucleus ; but not a few valuable additions have recently been gathered round it, and a greatly increased number of readers avail themselves of its advantages. The roll of members is still without many names that we might desire and expect to see included in it ; but it has been steadily enlarged from quarter to quarter. If any critic were to act so unfairly as to taunt the Auckland Institute with its smallness and feebleness, as compared with, the greater vigour and comprehensiveness of similar establishments in other places, we might justly reply that its weakness is not that of unsoundness or decrepitude, but merely that of infancy, — an infancy which is healthy and thriving, and requires only such nurture as it is likely to receive from the increasing numbers and expanding intelligence of our community, to develop it into a maturity which, in due time, will enable it to stand, in no stunted growth, and with no mark of inferiority, beside its older brethren in the more populous colonies, around us. We trust that the year on which the Institution is now entering, will give proof that we are not too sanguine in these anticipations. The new Committee includes several of those who were most attentive and active last year, and who will therefore unite experience in the management of the concern with unabated interest in its welfare ; and there is besides an infusion of " new blood" which, it is to be hoped, will produce accelerated and more energetic action. It is with the public at large, however, that the issue must mainly rest. There are various ways in which individuals may help forward the undertaking. Pome may imitate the example of his Excellency the Governor-in-Chikf and other gentlemen, by giving donations of Books; or, if they have no volumes suitable for the purpose from which they are willing to part, may, like Mr Chief Justice Martin, give a donation in money for the purchase of them. Some may contribute articles toward* the formation of a Museum, — an object contemplated in the original constitution of the Institute, and one which it is most desirable that some steps should be taken to secure, however small may be the scale on. which it is at first attempted, Some may afford aid in the form of Lectures, the world being before them where to choose their subjects, (the prohibition of discourses on controversial theology and party politics being practically no limitation at all, as no lecturer of right judgment or taste would think of introducing topics of these classes on such occasions). Many who have not hitherto become members may enrol their names on the list, and thus, even if they should not personally derive instruction or amusement from the Institute, may have the pleasure of becoming, at a very small outlay, instrumental in procuring both for others. J-et us add that, in these and similar modes of rendering assistance,-— Bis dat gui cito dat — the sooner it is done the better.

We copy from the Southern Cross the following Iteply to the Memorial, adopted at a Public Meeting held in thi* town on the 6th of Sept., 1849, praying the Home Government to recall Governor Grey. We take no credit to ourselves for having predicted at the time that the Me-^ morial would experience such a discouraging^ reception as this curt answer sufficiency jjH dicates. The tone of the Petition itself^jj^H even more, the character of the speecJ^^H the meeting by which it was adopted, tj^^^H it certain that the movement would J^^^^H effect on the judgment or conduct of tj^^^^^H Cabinet ;— unless indeed to .stren^^^^^H disposition to support an Officj^^^^^^H

avowedly assailed and condemned as " a man," apart from the merits or demerits of his " measures." ColoDial Secretary'^ Office, Auckland, Feb 4, 1851. Gentlemen.— By command of the Governor in -Chief 1 ha*e th«* honour to inform you, that his Excellency "hai been directed by Earl Grey in a Despatch dated the 2(Mh M«y last, to arquaint you that your Memorial of t^e 9th November, 1849, requi-s-ir.g the Recall of his Excellency Governor Grey, has been received by his Lordship, 1 have the honour to be, i entlt-men, Your very obedient g°rvanl, Andrew Sinclair. Colonial Secretary. Mr. Henry Weekes, and others, Signing; the Mem 'rial.

Matakana. Coal.— We have heard with pleasure that the required sum (£300) has been promptly subscribed in order to the prosecution of such an examination at Matakana as will ascertain whether this invaluable mineral is really to be procured at so convenient and. in every respect, suitable a locality. The indications are so strong that it would 'have been indeed ' penny wise and pound foolish" policy not to have resolved on snaking the experiment. We observe that a Meeting of the Subscribers will be held to-day for the purpose of electing a Committee of Management. The results of the trial which it will be the duty of the Committee to make will, we need not say, be looked for by the public with the liveliest interest.

Wksleyan Chapel, Onehunga,— -It having been resolved to ere-t a Wesleyan Chapel for the benefit ot the Pensioners and their families and others in the Village of Onehunga, the Government some time since liberally gi anted an acie of land for the purposes of the undertaking. A place of worship, the dimensions of which are about thirty ftet by twenty -five, has accordingly been built, at an expenditure of from £5 sto £60. '1 he Chapel was opened for Divine Service on Sunday last, when sermons were preached, in the morning by the JHev John Whiteley, of Kawhia,on the passage Ist Kings, eh. vi., v. 11— 13 ; and in the afternoon by the Uev. Thomas Bubdle, on Acts, eh. xi, v. 20, 21. The congregations were large, and good collections were made in aid of the funds

Wr have had prepared, for some days, notes designed to give a general view of the progress of events in Foreign Countries ; but having been compelled by other claims on our space to postpone the insertion of that portion of our summary, we now re-model it so as to include the most recent intelligence which has come into our bands. There is little to be added to the notices of the state of affairs in France which appeared in the New Zealander of the 25th ult. The prospect of the Legitimist party were not improving ; indeed, since the termination of the Congress at Wisbaden, it seemed rather to have lost ground in public estimation, and was, moreover, weakened by dissensions amongst its leading members. Their hero, the Count de Chambord, boasting of the blood of Henri IV., and 1 ouis XIV., had by his refusal to appeal to the people (on the ground that his doing so would " imply a negation of the great national principle of hereditary monarchy",) alienated the Marquis de Larochfjaquemn and other friends of his cause ; and the dogmatical assertion of the " divine right" of the House of Bouibon was offensive to the mass of the people. Louis Napoleon had sufficient tact to avail himself of these indis • creet declarations, and in asking for "the necessary prolongation of the Presidential powers," avowed a belief that he should not answer the expectation of the six millions of citizens "who chose him as the symbol of the ideas of order and prudent progress, inaugurated in 1789, if he were humbly to bow his head to the royalist coalition which imprudently agitates the country." Much curiosity was felt respecting the opinions and tendencies of General Changarnier, whose position, as commanding an army of 100,000 men, occupying Paris, make him a most important personage j and whose decided, though bloodless, victory ■ over the Revolutionists on the 13th June, 1849, has added greatly to his influence. So reserved is he in stating his opinions, that it is matter of controversy whether he is a Legitimist, an Orleanist, a Bonapartist, or simply a Changarnierist, waiting and watching for some events which he may turn to his own advantage. The war between Denmark and Schlfswig Holstein, continued, without the occurrence of anything likely to bring it to a speedy termination, unless an attempt by individuals which we shall presently state, should Strangely and happily produce that result. It was supposed that the threatened intervention of the Great Powers would be necessary to restore peace ; but according to the latest accounts those Powers could not airange the terms of the intervention, and the contending parties were likely to be left to . settle their own quarrel as they could. Such L operations as had taken place had issued unfor the Holsteiners. The armies camped on the Schleswig frontier having, time, been pnly watching each other, Schleswig Commander, til ed of inactivity, the 9th September, attacked the Danat Missunde, but was igaomjm*

ously beaten back, with a loss of 300 men. On the 17th of that month, the Danes also gained a victory at sea ; and at the last dates they had the whole of the coast in their power from the mouth of the Eyder northwards, and could command all the channels or deep-water tracts from the West Coast outwards to the German Ocean. A little before, another misfortune had befallen the Holsteiners, by the blowing up of a powder mill, which destroyed a large portion of their ammunition, and killed or dangerously wounded a hundred persons. The policy of the Danish General seemed to be simply to repel aggression, remaining as much as possible passive, with a view of exhausting the strength and treasure of the Schleswig Holsteiners. We learn however, that a step had been taken by three private individuals towards the adjustment of the quarrel, which, whatever its ultimate worth may prove to be, had excited considerable attention. Messrs. Joseph Sturgc, Euhu Burritt (the ''learned blacksmith " from the United States), and Joseph Wheeler, leading members of the P«ace Congress, resolved on their own responsibility, — (for the Congress disclaims all interference in the politics of the day) — to visit the seat of war, for the purpose of endeavouring to induce the contending partie& to submit their differences to arbitration From a report of their proceedings dated Hamburgh, s ept. 25, published in the Times of Octob r 1, it appears that the authorities both at Kiel and Rendsburg on th - one hand, and at Copenhagen on the other, mci them with courtesy, and avowed a willingness to come into their plan, — more especially as there ex • isted a precedent for it in a treaty oi alliance between Denmark and the Duchies, bearing date 153 <, and twice renewed since, by which it was agreed to adjust any differences that might arise between them " not by means of arms, but by means of councillors constituted as arbitrators on the part of each, and disengaged from their oath of allegiance." The Minuter of Foreign Affairs at Kiel had even appointed a gentleman to meet any one whom the Danish Government may commission on their part for the purpose of agreeing on the measures requisite to carry the plan into effect. These parties were to be brought together as early as pos- ( sible, and Eliuu Burritt was to remain for a few weeks at Hamburgh to expedite this preliminary stage of negotiation. All this has a pacific aspect ; but we coutess we are not very sanguine as to the results. We observe that the respective Governments carefully " reserve for eventual arrangement the appointment, composition, and jurisdiction of the Couit ;" and we shall find ourselves agreeably mistaken if these very questions, Who shall be the arbitrators'? and What are the matters \ the decision of which shall be placed within their jurisdiction'? do not raise difficulties which will go far to defeat the good inten- ; tions of the amiable Triumvi ate of Peace. j i Meanwhile, the King of Denmark was otherwise engaged than in devoting himself to the engrossing cares of war. He had contracted a Morganatic (or "left-handed") marriage with a certain Lola Rasmussen, formerly the court milliner, " well known to the Copenhagen corps of officers," but lately raised to the rank of "Countess Danner." The marriage, was celebrated in the Palace Chapel by the Bishop of Jutland, and two Countesses were commanded to attend on the Btide. ihe ladies of the Court were very indignant, and under great \ apprehension lest they should receive commands \ to attend on her, — an apprehension rendered more galling by its being known that she had expressed the pleasure she felt in the anticipation of being waited on by ladies on whom she had once waited as their dress- maker. The Queen Dowager, the widow of Frederick VI., had forbidden a visit that the King and the Countess intended to pay her. Rome continued in a feverish and discontented condition. Some of the most recent Decrees of the Government, — especially two Edicts, one relating to the organization of the Ministry, dividing all the Branches of public administration into five Ministerial departments; the other establishing a ( ouncil of State — had been torn down from the walls, or covered with dirt ; and a depression of the value of paper money at the rate of three per cent had taken place. On the Pope's grand appearance in public to assist at mass in celebration of the birth-day of the Virgin Mary, no acclamations greeted his progress, and instead of the laudatory inscriptions which formerly honoured the Popes as they passed through the streets on such occasions, there appeared an inscription, the ingenious significance of which will be perceived by first reading each of its parallel columns straight down, and then by reading them across. Death to Pius IX Mazzini Long may he live The Republic is The gentlest government The most infamous government Is that of the Priestt i Down with The power of the Priests I The dominion of the People May xt reign for ever. i The differences between the Papal and the , i Sardinian Governments seemed to increase in \ difficulty. A new ground of contention had I arisen. The Archbishop of Cagliari, Pri- I , mate of Sardinia, was called on by the Royal | Commissioners to give an amount of the i revenues of the religious establishments in his diocese. He refused ; and the Commissioners proceeded to obtain the returns without his aid, and to charge him with the expense of them. Payment not being forthcoming, they seized

the papers, &c, in an office depending on him, and placed their seals on the premises. The Archbishop thereupon fulminated an excommunication against all the Government authorities of Sardinia, for which he was arrested and was to be tried by the civil powers. As soon as the facts were known at Rome, a council of Cardinals was ' held, at which the Pope, it is stated, spoke in favour of conciliatory measures, but the Cardinals opposed anything like an amicable arrangement. This collision seemed likely to place Sardinia in a position of irreconci able political hostility to Rome. The municipal bodies in all parts of the kingdom wete pouring in addresses of adhesion to the policy of the bardmian Government in ecclesiastical affairs. A Grand Consistory was to be held at Rome on the 30th of September for the nomination of foreign Cardinals, and the consecration of bishops. In Germany, the course of events was in f.ivour of the Constitutionalists. An important revolutionary movement had taken place in Hesse Cassel, in consequence of tyramcal proceedings on the part of the Elector's government, administered by his Prime Minister, i Hassenpflug, who not only endeavoured to levy taxes in spite of the Hessian Chamber, but dissolved the refractory Parliament, and went to the extremity of proclaiming the whole Electorate in a state of seige. An appeal to the Courts of Law produced a decision against the Government, but the spirit of popular indignation was so excited that the Elector and his Minister sought safety in flight. They subsequently stationed themselves at Wilhelmsbad (a suburb of Hauau about eleven miles from Frankfort) and issued a proclamation declaring that place the seat of Qovernment. The Prussian Government had written to Cassel, censuring the acts of the Cabinet as unconstitutional, declaring that the resistance of the people was perfectly legal, and urging the Elector to retrace his steps The principal news from Spain refers to the Elections for the Cortes, ivhich had issued in so signal a defeat of the Progresista party, that the Government would find itself almost without an oppositiou in the Assembly. A much greater number of voters had exercised ! their franchise than at the last election Lieutenant-Governov Don Jose he la Concha. had been appointed Captain-Genetal of the island of Cuba The Madrid Heralda of the 241h0f t eptember, announced thata large augmentation of the >panish Navy was immediately to take place, hy order of the Minister of Marine. This formidable increase was believed to be demanded for the protection of Cuba, on which, — it was apprehended that another attempt would be made. A serious outbreak was apprehended in Portugal, so wide was the discontent arising from the imposition of new taxes and the stringent means employed to collect them; together with the badness of the harvest and vintage, and the consequent alarming rise of i provisions. Incendiarism extensively prevailed. The possibility, or probability of a military prOnunciamcnto to overthrow Count Thomab, and set up the Duke of Saldaniia, was also a source of much uneasiness to the Government. Belgium had suffered greatly from violent storms with deluges of rain and a flooding of the country beyond all former experience. The potato crop had failed in several districts. From Turkey we learn that the case of the Hungarian refugees had given rise to new complications, Th,e convention with Russia and Austria by which the Porte engaged to keep the refugees under surveillance for a year was to expire in September, and the Tutkish Government had manifested its intention of setting Kossutii and his companions at liberty, and placing at their disposal a vessel to convey I them to England or America. They were also tto receive 5 00 piastres each, as a supply for | their immediate wants. These arrangements, I however, so alarmed the Austrian Government that it protested against the liberation of the ; refugees, maintaining that ihe year was to commence not from the time when they sought protection in the Ottoman territory, but from [ the time when they were removed into the ' interior. Thus does Austria still vindictively ; persecute those brave and devoted patriots. The Porte, however, appeared resolved not to yield, and had applied to the representatives of England and France for advice. [By late American intelligence, received via Honolulu, we learn that on the presentation of Amin Bey, the Turkish Commissioner, to the President, at Washington, on the '21st September, the Commissioner made some allusions to the case of the Hungarian refugees; to which, Mr. [ Fillmore returned a diplomatic but encou- ! ragiug answer to the effect that " while neu1 trality was their policy, the American people sympitbized with liberal institutions everywhere."] .„ Malta was amongst the places severally visited by cholera T According' to the returns ( (which embrace only the civil population) 'there were, from the' l3th of June to the 13th of September, 2813 cases, and 1502 deaths. [ The disease was no longer, as at fiist, confined | to the lower and indigent classes.

Recent Deaths of Notable Person^. Since the publication of our last article under this heading, the papers which have reached

us have contained obituaiies of not a few persotis_distin<ruished by elevated station or some other claim to celebrity. We have noticed several of these removals from the busy scenes of life in our general summaries of intelligence ; but not a few names remain which occupied a position of sufficient prominence in the eyes — if not of the world at large — yet of considerable classes, to render such a brief notice of their deaths as we here compile, not undeserving of attention. In the obituary lists we find the names of the Earl of Donougii.more, better known as " Lavalette Hutchinsos," in consequence of the part taken by him with the late Sir Robert Wilson in the liberation of General Lavalette from the Conciergerie in Paris: — the Earl of Dunraven : — in his 57th year, Lord Petrd, a Roman Catholic Peer, but having the patronage of four Church livings •. — Viscount Caniilupi.-, eldest son of Earl Dcl vw ark, ; — (it was noticed as ao curious coincidence, that his lordbhip, the DultL of Cambridge, and the late Sir Robert Peewere engaged to dine together with the Duke of Norfolk on a certain day, but when that day arrived all three were dead): — Lord Corehouse, late one of the Judges of the Court of Session in Scotland: — at Bonn, on the Rhine, of apoplexy, Lord Leigh : — at Athens, Lord Wm. Clinton, fourth son of the Duke of Newcastle; he had been theie only a short lime, attached to the British mission, and was carried off in forty -eight hours by a violent fever, supposed to have been brought on by his exertions in a tour to the interior imprudently undertaken during the great heats : — Sir George Hamilton, British Minister Plenipotentiary at Florence: — Colonel W. E. Hollow ay, C 8., Commanding Officer of the Royal Engineers at Ply mouth, after a protracted illness the severity of which was much increased by the consequence of wounds received in the service of his country • at Badajoz : — Joseph Bailey, Esq., the Conservative and Protectioni t Member for Herefordshne •. — Lieut. Gale, the well-knowa Aeronaut, was killed on the 9th of September near Bordeaux. After an ascent on horseback, he had leached the ground safely ; but the peasants who assisted him in exhau&ting the balloon removed the horse too soon, and the balloon, thus suddenly lightened, soared aloft, lifting with it Mr. Gale, who was entangled in the ropes. After floating about two miles it descended, and the body of the unfortunate aeronaut was found quite dead, m a tree :— at Brighton, Sir Ralph Rice, formerly Recorder of Penang, and afterwards one of the Puisne Judges in the Supreme Court of Bombay : — the Right Reverend Dr. Fleming, Roman Catholic Bishop of Newfoundland : — the Rev. Dr. A. Judson, the distinguished Baptist Missionary to India: — aged 7<), the Rev. James Ingram, D.D., F.S.A., President of Trinity C ollege, Oxon., and author of " Memorials of Oxford " a work of great antiquarian research, published in 1827: — lost in the wreck of the Onon, Professor Burns, of Glasgow, aged 76; —(Dr. J. A. Laurie had been appointed to succeed him in the, Chair of Surgery in the University): — the Very Reverend Usher Li-e, Dean of Waterford : — the R. j v. William Atuerton, an eminent Wesleyan Minister, who was elected to the highest office in his Church— that of President of the Conference — in 1846 :— the Rev. Jacob Stanley, a distinguished Minister in the same body ; he also filled the Presidential Chair (in 1845^; — Major Palmer, latelnspector General bt Prisons in Ireland : — at Antigua, aged 80, the Hon. Paul Horsford, formerly Chief Justice ot that island. . .The death of the widow of the late Lord Jeffrey was announced. She never recovered the shock she sustained by the death of her distinguished husband, whom she survived only about four months. She was the grand-niece of the celebrated John Wilk&s :—: — died at Gunnersbury House, near London, the Baroness Rothschild, widow of the celebrated capitalist, who died in 1836. The ranks of Literature, Science, and Art had sustained additional bereavements. Mr. R. Strvesson, the civil engineer, died at the age of 78. It will be remembered that he was the sole designer and executor of the Bell Rock Lighthouse, and that it was he who first brought into notice the (now fully acknowledged) superiority of malleable iron roUs for railways over the old cast iron. <: The coast of Scotland, however,'" (says the Edinburgh Post) " is the place where his labours are principally to be seen Not a harbour, rock, or island, but has evidence of his indefatigable industry." ....Miss Jane Porter, authoress of "The Scottish Chiefs," and other popular works of fiction, died at Bristol, aged 74. .. .Theological literature had experienced a more than ordinary loss in the death of Professor Neander, of Berlin. The reputation of his Biblical learning was almost as great in England as in his own country in which, moreover, his amiability and simplicity of character commandedthe affectionate regard of all who knew him.

Thb Ba?sD oi ii. M. 56th ile^t. (by the permissioa of Lieutenant- Colbnel Wynyard, C.8.), will peifonn in the grounds in iront of old Government House , to-morrow afternoon from four till six o'clock, P.»u PROGRAMME. Overture — 0p..." I Puiitam".. Bellini. Melange— Op... "The Crusaders.".. Benedict. CavatuiaOp.."Sonnan)bvild" ("Vißaviso") Belliiu. Aria, c Cav.~ Op. " Gemini de Vergi ".. Roisiiu, Quadrille..." Le Prophete".. Jullien. WalU.. " The Nightingale.. Jul!ie;v Galop..* 1 Le Postillion". . Adam. Ballad, . '•' Ki\te Kea.rnej;." _