The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 564, 10 September 1851, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

Be just nii'l fe;ir not • Let nil the ends tlimi .innb't at, bo thy Country's, Thy God's, and Truth's.

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 10, 1851.

We understand that steps are already in progress, under the direction of the Resident Magistrate, for the preparation of the returns of persons entitled to vote at the elections of municipal officers for the Borough of Auckland, and that the meeting of Justices of the Peace for the formation of the " Burgess Roll," according to the provisions of the Charter, will be held at the Supreme Court House, on the 15th of next month (October). We had intended to make some remarks in our present number upon the Charter generally, but unavoidable circumstances have compelled us to postpone them.

Our extracts from the English papers lately received have only incidentally made reference to the condition of Ireland. We now turn to our files with a view of summing up the most striking particulars of the intelligence from that country, in which many of our readers feel a lively interest. The " rush" of emigration was going on to an extent beyond the precedent of any former year. We can scarcely take up a journal without finding some almost staithng account of the departures from the chief ports both North and South. Thus, the Armagh Guardian says, " During the last few weeks the numbers who proceeded by rail from this city to Belfast, the port of embarkation, averaged from eighty to one hundred daily." The Cork Constitution gives a similar leport from the other end of the Island ;— " All the roads entering this city aie crowded daily with emigrants, with car loads of luggage, boxes, bags of potatoes, &c, for America. Many of them are comfortably clad, others look very I poor, but with scarce an exception they aie all able bodied, and appear to be agricultural labourers, servants, &c. It was computed that on Saturday no fewei than eleven hundred persons, male and female, left this poit." The Galway Mercury states that " hardly any persons at all are staying in the district of Connemara, so that it nmst in a short time become a complete desert.' ' A Nenagh paper says that the once populous district of Thurles is nearly deserted, and that the congregations attending the chapels have become miserably thin as compared with former years. From Westport and Castlebar " shopkeepers, farmers, and able-bodied labourers are flying as if from a plague, and the population seems to be limited to the inmates of the woik houses." The Tuam Herald says, " We are almost safe in stating that at this moment in every nine families out of ten in this neighbourhood preparations are being made foi the embarkation of one or more of their members ; and the worst, at least the most disheartening feature in the matter is, that in almost every instance the industrious and the owneis of some capital are departing, leaving behind them the

helpless, and those whose age and indigence will soon render them fitting objects for the poor-house. Where will this end V From Dublin the repoit is, " the quays are almost impassable ; every railway train brings in its contingent of apparently well-to-do farmers, their wives or comely offspring, or of destitution in the lowest scale of humanity — halfnaked, sickly looking creatures — numbers of them old, infirm, and even crippled, with their whole worldly substance contained within the folds of a pocket handkerchief." This is a picture the fidelity of which those who have seen bodies of Irish emigiants will easily credit. The quotations we select' are mere specimens, the statements from Limerick, Waterford, and other places being of precisely the same character. Several even of the constabulary were quitting the force, and emigrating to America— the great centre towards which the multitudes were thronging, paitly led thither by the circumstance that many of them have friends already settled there, but chiefly influenced by the comparative ease with which they can obtain passages to New York. Numbers would beyond a doubt greatly prefer this and the neighbouring colonies, but that the expensiveness of the voyage interposes an insurmountable barrier. While, however, the agricultural population was being thus thinned, those who remained at home were exciting themselves actively. The weather was favourable for field operations, and the farmers in most parts of the country were busily engagedin their springlabours; — although, a scarcity of labourers was complained of in some districts, and, according to the Roscommon , Gazette, the greater part of the field-work was performed by females. Undeterred by the repeated failures of the potato crop, they had prepared an unusually large breadth of land for its cultivation. In giain, oats and barley had the preference, as having proved more remunerative than wheat, since free trade had glutted the English market with foreign flour. The cultivation and manufacture of Flax continued to afford profitable employment, especially in the North of Ireland. The effect of this particular branch of industry is strikingly exhibited in a paper by the Rev. W. R. Townsend, rector of Aghada, who by an elaborate collection of statistical facts shows the augmented comforts enjoyed by the peasantry in the distticts wheie flax is extensively grown, as compared with those where little attention is paid to it. He points out that there are more thousands in sixteen poor-houses in the County of Cork, than there are hundreds in the twelve poorhouses in Ulster. It would not be fair, we apprehend, to attribute the whole of the difference to this one cause, for we know that other and potent industrial and social elements are in operation in the North ; but no doubt a considerable share of it may be thus accounted for. . An interesting and encouraging circumstance is mentioned by a writer from Dublin :—": — " A novel feature has been presented at the course of lectures just concluded by the Professor of Botany in Trinity College, on the application of that science to the purposes of general agriculture, in the presence of large numbers of tillers of the soil as listeners, with marked attention, to every word that had a reference to the process and progress of vegetation and the improved practice of agriculture.". . . .The last yearly cattle show of the Royal Dublin Society also afforded grounds of satisfaction. The exhibition, as the correspondent of the Times states, "far exceeded anything of the kind which has taken place since its foundation, or, perhaps, any similar exhibition which has ever been held in this country, the number of cattle in every class being unusually large, and the quality being fully equal, if not superior, to what had been sent in to compete for the prizes on former occasions." At a meeting held on the evening of the Exhibition day, the Lord Lieutenant was piesent, and delivered an address in which he mingled sound and sagacious counsel to the landlords, with gratifying testimony to the advance of agricultural skill and energy in the country. His Excellency concluded by declaring his impression " that Ireland at last is ready to become what she ought to be ;—; — that manufacturing and agricultural progress is no idle dream, — not a problem of impossible solution; but that in- [ dustry aad energy have already done much, and sufficient to make us persevere in endeavouring to turn to the best account the many bounties which nature with no niggard hand has lavished on this country." The products of Irish, skill and industry in some departments, occupied, we are pleased to observe, a conspicuous position in the Great Exhibition, and commanded attention and admiration even amidst the accumulated treasures which the world has united to pour into that marvellous collection of the rare, the beautiful, and the useful. It will be neither inappropriate nor uninteresting to many that we should here introduce from the Illustrated London News a few passages descriptive of some of the contributions from Ireland, included in the section devoted to " Textile Fabrics." The flax and linen manufacturers occupy the eastern pnd of the court devoted to the examples of printed and linen fabrics. The Belfast manufactuiers shew examples of the staple trades of tbe north of Ireland, and with great success, many of the fepc'"imens of damusk table hnen being of iirst-rate character alike in dosiyu as in execution ; and whilst in many instances the artistic ptvvt is susceptible of a targe amount of improvement, tbr-re ib much upon which any one desirous to see a manufacture so peculiarly adapted to the climate and the genius of the Irkh people m a. flourishing condition, will congratulate himself. The Coulsons, William and James, though separate and jival firms, maintain the ancestral character of their name as lmendamash.manuiacturers; and without instituting any comparison beween the specimens of the two houses, we may speak

of bot'i as deserving of high commendation. Michael Andrews, of the Royal Ardoyne Manufactory, without shewing: so extensively as could be desired, justifies and keeps his position, the design and execution of the examples he exhibits being 1 of a high character. Mr. John Henninsr, of Waringslown, and Messrs. Richardson, Sons, and Owdin, are laige exhibitors of a series of highly creditable works ; and m plain linens and cambrics, Messrs. Sadler, Fenton, and Co., of Belfast, Jame* Malcolm, of Lurgan, and others, shew what can be donp by Irish skill and industry, when properly applied and directed. Returning then to the Belfast display, before proceeding to the next court, in which the woollens and mixed fabiics are arranged, the beautiful examples of sewed and embroidered muslins, cambrics, and jaconets, exhibited by Messrs. Jolin Holden and Co., Belfast. The importance to Ireland of this manufacture in a social point of view cannot be overrated, since it gives employment to many thousands of persons, and carries comfoitand comparative independence into many a cottage which would otherwise be the scene of misery and degradation. Tlip fitm of Ilolden and Co. alone employs 8000 females in their own houses, and consequently expends l.i rge sums of money annually in wages. Established in 1832, its connexions are now extended from Belfast to the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Cailow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Deny, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Gal way, King's County, Louth, Mayo, Monaghan, Sli«o. Tyrone/and YVatei ford, where branch houses are established for the distribution of the work amongst the peasantry ; and the productions, at last fairly brought before the English public, in their true character as the productions of the daughters of Erin, will show to what an extent their talent in this direction has been cultivated . The Scotch have long adopted a similar system ; but it is not getieiallv known that the be«t ppwgcl muslins are produced in Ireland for thoae Scottish houses, which have branch establishments at Belfast. We commend tills display to the consideration of our fair coun-try-women, in the hope that they will remember that no philanthropy is like that which affords employment to a people, and that eleemosynary help is more frequently an evil than a good. Crossing from the side of the entrance to the staircase, at which the Belfast contributions terminate, the visitor commences lii» examination of the more costly fabrics of silks and poplins, the products of Dublin and other parts of Ireland. Messrs. William Fry and Co., of Dublin, occupy the counter opposite to Messrs. Holden, and the rich assortment of goods displayed here will astonish those who believed that Ireland does nothing for herself, and, as Paddy himself would say, less for England. The beautiful poplins, brocades, and tabinets of Mr. Reynolds, Messrs. Pirn Brothers and Co., Mr. Jones, and Messrs. Atkinson and Co., all of Dublin, will astonish and delight every vibitor ; and the poplin loom erected by tb<? last named house, in which a weaver is actively engaged in working a richly brocaded poplin from a design executed appropriately enough by a pupil of the Dublin School of Design, will add largely to the interest of this part of the Exhibition. This machine is beautifully constructed, the framework being of mahogany, and the Jacquard mountings, &c, of suitable materials, producing, as a whole, a very elegant and tasteful effect. At the back of the poplins, the Irish woollen goods are placed, and some excellent examples of the present state of the woollen manufactures of Ireland are to be found here, Mr. Richard Allen, of Dublin, and Messrs. Willans being the principal exhibitors. At the back will be found the examples of Mrs. Veevers's fabrics, manufactured from the fibres of netlles ; as also various specimens made from the fibre of flowers. This lady resides at Mohill, county of Leitiim, and has paid much attention to the production of articles from the fibre of common plants not hitherto used for such purposes. Before quitting this locality, it may be well to impress upon the visitor the distinct character of the arrangements for the display, almost in a national sense, of Irish products, inasmuch as they are, as far as the classification would allow, brought nearly all together. Hogans celebiated statue of " Hibernia," the property of Lord Cloncurry, was to have been placed in front of the loom ; but that distinguished patriot, perhaps wisely, desired to have a guarantee for its safe return to his possession. This guarantee could not be given ; and so the symbol of Irish nationality, which would have completed the group is wanting. Mr. Panormo, of Dfcblin, having sent bis statue of " Caractacus," this work Las been placed there, nnd stands as a fitting emblem of Irish industry, in the person of tbe chained captive. Lpt us hope, however, that the Roman soldier, whom we here see unloosing the bonds of the noble Briton, is also the symbol of this display, and that, ere long, free and unfettered, the industry, the talent, and the energy of Ireland will be fairly developed ; and that, quitting the vague and unprofitable field of mere political activity, the social and industrial elements so long dormant within her will arise and work that change so much needed in the position of her people, but which it is in vain to look for from any other source than that of the development of those national resources possessed in such abundance, but so long neglected for tbe chimera of mere political change. Our lady readers do not need to be told how just are some of the enconiums in these extracts. They know that the Irish poplins and tabinets are amongst the most beautiful fabrics of their kind that human skill has devised and executed, and that they supply some of the most favourite dresses of the First Lady in the world. The sewing and embroidery here referred to are perhaps not so well known, — at least not so well known as Irish work, for we have good reason to believe that many articles of this class, really produced by the taste and toil of bare-footed Irish peasant girls, have been, and to this day are, purchased at high prices, by the female aristocracy in London, without the slightest suspicion that in numerous instances they have been wrought in obscure cabins and humble charity schools in the most poverty stricken districts of Ireland. Several of the most exquisite specimens of needle- work we ever saw, — (exquisite, not merely in the opinion of persons like ourselves little versed in such matters, but in that of highly compe- ! tent judges,)— were executed in a small town j in the South of Ireland, during the worst period of the Irish famine, in a school which for some ! time was kept in existence chiefly by a Female ! Relief Committee in London, from which a lady acquainted with the circumstances of the locality obtained grants just sufficient to provide for the girls one meal of food in the day. We could tell of other cases like this, but it ■ would lead us too far from our present purpose; I which is simply to call fuller attention to those evidences of industrial effort, and of as yet imperfectly developed, and still more inadequately requited, capabilities, to which our summary j points. It would be a novelty indeed if we could conclude any abstract of Irish news without a reference to agitation in some form or another. Meie political agitation, however, seemed to be in a great measure in abeyance, except in so far as it was connected with two or three elections for accidentally vacant seats in Parliament. Enniskillen— long represented by the nominees of the noble family which takes its title from that town— had returned Mr. Whiteside, Q.C.,in opposition to Mr. Cullum, who stood on the popular, as distinguished from the Cole, interest ; and, however we may generally desire the independence of that intelligent and sound-principled borough, we cannot but feel gratified by a result whicii brings into the House of Commons one of the most biilliant of living Itish. orators. Long-

ford had rejected Mr. Sleator in favour of Mr. More O'Ferrali , after what could scarcely be called a contest, although it had evoked many angry and jealous feelings ; and Cork had supplied Mr. Fagans lelmqm hed seat by a descendant of one of its oldest and most eminent meicantile firms, Mr. Serjeant Murphy. But what was wanting in strictly political excitement was more than made up by the politico-religious agitation which seems so peculiarly congenial to the soil. The Ecclesiastical Titles Bill had stined up the Roman Catholic population to almost a frenzy of opposition. We cannot tell in how many places Loid John Russell had been burnea in effigy, and with what varied forms of anathema the "new penal law" had been denounced. Amongst the more notable meetings was one of the citizens of Dublin, on the 22nd of April, at which Mr. John O'Connell, (who had so far recoveied caste that his Limerick supporters had rescinded their vote of censure on him), figuied as a principal orator, — eclipsed, however, by the Rev. Dr. Cahill, who advised that a subscription list should be opened to " send out a deputation to every Catholic Court in Europe, to state to them and to the world the conduct of England towards this country," — and at which a letter was read from Dr. Cantwell, R. C. Bishop of Meath, recommending the immediate formation of a " Catholic Defence Association," and declaring that the " penal measures" of the English Legislature, "if passed into laws, would be entitled to the same, respect and obedience as the demand of the Mghxvayrobber.". .The great demonstration, however, was a Monster Aggregate Meeting, at the Dublin Rotunda on the 29th of April, to pronounce against " the threatened invasion of religious liberty." The requisition calling this Meeting was headed by Primate Paul Cullen, and had about twelve hundred signatutesi Numerous and liberal donations continued to be contributed towards the foundation of the " Catholic University." Primate Cui.lkn had issued an earnest address on its behalf to the clergy and laity. The Times, referring to to the subject, says, " Fiesh evidences are daily coming to light of a fixed resolve on the part of a large body of the Roman Catholic clergy to carry out, and even go beyond, that decree of the Synod of Thurles, which would, in effect, for ever put an end to the prospect of children of different religious persuasions receiving education upon a common system such as that prescribed by the National Board." In this aspect , therefore, so far as sacredotal Moore's aspirationr ation that Irleand might be spanned influence governs the issue, the realization of by " one arch of peace," in which the various tints should unite as in the light of the rainhow, would seem as distant now as when he first penned it.