AGRICULTURAL SHOW. GOLD?

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 617, 13 March 1852, Page 2

AGRICULTURAL SHOW.

GOLD?

Be just and fear not: Let all tiie ends thou »nns't at, be thy Country's, Thy Gou's, and Truth's.

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 1852.

It will be seen by advertisement that the Auckland and New Ulster Agricultural Society's Show of Cattle, Corn, Dairy Produce, Poultry, &c, -will take place at Newmarket on Tuesday next, the 16th instant. It is to be hoped that—apart from such attraction as the Prizes may offer—exhibitors will be induced to co-operate, for the purpose of proving what the district really can and does possess and produce in these times df agricultural progress. We observe that.,the Gonimittee have made arrangements for an auction after the Show, to accommodate persons desiring to dispose 1 of their stock; —and that, as an inducement to visitors, there will be no charge for admission to the Exhibition.

We have no definite intelligence on this exciting subject to add to the statement in our last. The Committee had not returned -at the hour at .■which we write, and nothing worth recording has transpired from any other quarter. The party sent out by the Commissioner of Police proceeded no farther than Waiheki, the rough state of the weather rendering it impracticable to go on to Wangarei, as had been originally intended. We must therefore wait patiently for the return of the steamer which, we trust, will place us in possession of information that may be deemed conclusive as to the present prospects of the alleged discovery. We say the present prospects, for even should this trial prove a failure, it still leaves the question open whether New Zealand does, or does not, contain a gold field.

Just as »we were going to press the Governor Wynward arrived with the Committee, who, as we announced, in our last, had proceeded to the locality from which Merrick asserted he had procured the specimens exhibited by the policeman and from which gold had been extracted in the beginning of the week. The steamer proceeded to the Hen & Chickens group, where she arrived on Wednesday morning, remaining there, wind-bound, until yesterday morning. A quantity of the soil has been ' brought up from the place ; and we learn that further investigations which will set the matter at rest for the present are to be proceeded with this day, when no doubt the result will be authentically laid before the public by the Committee. From all we have been able to learn, however, we may express our belief that, so far as it is known, there is no person yet entitled to claim the reward that has been offered for the discovery of "an available Gold Field in the Province of New Ulster/

We have plodded our way through a large number of the English journals brought by the Kathering Stewart Fotbes, with the only result which we could reasonably have anticipated, viz., finding a variety of filling up materials to complement the more salient points of intelligence which we had already been made acquainted with by way of Sydney. At the same time, any thing which we had not read before, whatever may be its actual date, is news to us, and in the disjointed and irregular manner in which we leceive information from home, must be acceptable. We have marked numerous articles which will be more or less interesting to our leaders. Some of them we insert to-day ; others we shall give as opportunity permits. The general impression left by a perusal of these papers is the dullness of public affairs in England. No genuine excitement on any subject : " nothing moving but stagnation." The attractions of the Great Exhibition <had prolonged the London " season" beyond its ordinary limits ; but these too had passed away. It had been said that " for six months Hyde Park was a kind of Mecca of manufactures, towards which pilgrims from every degree of latitude and longitude were bending their steps ;" but its gates, as respected this object of devotion, were now closed, and the scene of wondering admiration had floated from view, leaving on most minds only the sensation remaining a vivid and gorgeous dream. Not a few willingly lingered over the recollected glories of the bright vision*, and " cried to dream again ;" but others, looking at ihe realities which gave it birth and attended its progress, more cooily and even sternly calculated on its practical issues. In our other columns will be found a selection from the opinions of the contemporary press on the sub ject. Some of the objections urged by anticipation to the p t oject had been conclusively contradicted by facts ; for instance the apprehension — on < which . great stress was laid — that it would be costly so far beyond its financial productiveness as to render inevitable an appeal to Parliament for a grant to cover the loss, has been more than refused by the balance of about a quarter of a million sterling remaining in hand. The only loss directly connected with the undertaking appears lo have been on fhepait of the contractors for printing the catalogues, who had suffered sevetely by the speculation. But other murmurings, both loud and deep, weie heard. Exhibitors complained of partiality in the awarding of p'izes : tradesmen complained of an ii.teiruplion to the.r business, which had not been compensated by^thex influx of visitors to London in any degiee^^ipproaching to their expectations; manufacturers Complained of the injury they were sustaining fronvlhe sale of foreigivarticles which the owners were wi ling to s«ll at very -reduced piices rather than re-ship them for their own country : and the purchasers of season tickets swelled the chorus of discontent by their own little grievance, that a grand fete which they had been encouraged to anticipate at the closing of the Exhibition had been withheld. It would, however, have been contrary to all the experience of mankind, if such an undertaking had passed over without some dissatisfaction and, we may add, without some giounds for it. The magnitude of the benefits conferred on the sciences and on art, and the woildwide influence in the promotion of pacific intercourse and intellectual competition which this great Gathering of the -Nations may reasonably be expected to bequeath, will in the estimation of most calm thinkers vastly preponderate over these and a thousand similar objections. However this may be, the Gieat Exhibition of 1851 is now an accomplished fact, and one that will live in history as a marvel of the nineteenth century, — e\en though it should- be as is imagined in this concluding passage of The Lvy and the Bee, "An Apologue of the Crystal Palace," which lately issued from the prolific and gifted pen ol Samuel Warren, Go then ? Thou Grand One of the Present, grandly into the Past. And for the Future Leave no trace behind, but in the Mind, Enriched, expanded, and sublimed. Only a noble Memory ' Be thou, to sensuous eye, Quickly, as though thou hadst not been. Let the place that knows thee now, Know thee no more. Let the grass grow again, where grew the grass so short a while ago. Let tbe wandering winds blow freely o'er the site where shone so late ' The gleaming Wonder of the World. Let world-wide pilgrims come, In all time hereafter, unco this sceptred isle, This little world, This Precious Stone set in tbe silver sea This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England, To that green spot : And, pointing to their sons,all grown incredulous, say, Here It stood ! The only movements which to any extent broke up the stagnancy of politics, were those in connexion with the questions of Protection, and of Lord John Russell's promised Reform Bill ; and these were of so sluggish a character that only the prevalence of general monotony and dullness could secure for them the amount of attention they received. Some little life indeed had been given to the Protectionist question by a charge against Mr. Disraeli of having, in a speech at Aylesbury, virtually abandoned the cause of which he was esteemed the leader ; but his supporters said for him, and he subsequently said for himself, that no such apostacy wa6 in his thoughts ;— that he only expressed his desire that — pending the return to Protectionist principles which, however he longs for it, he does not consider immediately attainable— the friends of the agriculturists should strive to obtain for them present relief, by a diminution of that burden of taxation which they declare presses unequally upon them as compared with other classes. The more sanguine of the Country Party, however, would not admit that there was any occasion for even a temporary submission to the Free Trade system, and sanguinely predicted that the next general election would place them in a position to dictate terms to any administration that might be in office. Thus, Mr. Paul Foskett wrote to the Times, " We are determined to regain for every British interest full and effectual protection from foreign competition. This is no idle assertion. We have means at our command legally and constitutionally to accomplish this resolve — means with which you will shortly be made acquainted." Meanwhile, Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton had taken the field as a candidate for Hertfordshire, on out and out Protectionist principles : " Coningsby," says the Spectator, "having given symptoms of a disposition to fall back upon his original Free Trade faith, the Last of the Barons aspires to lead the yet unshaken Abdiels of the agricultural inter-

est. 1 ' . . . The features of Lord Johij Russell's Reform -scheme remained hidden from ]the public gaze except in so far as the Yoi k&hireman professed to lift the veil. That journal, with very confident asseverations of the trustworthiness of its info mation, delared that fh • coming measure would recognize a ceitain educational test, apart from occupancy of houses, as conferring a right to vote ; that the £10 qualification in boioughs would be reduqed; that the county .franchise would also be greatly popularized ; and that, on the whole, the constituency of the country would be increased at least one-fouith. The Parliamentary and Financial Reform Associationists were labouring to raise a popular cry in sup port of their " Little Chaiter ;" but even at Manchester they did not succeed in getting up an impressive demonstration ; and it did not seem likely that the public would manifest much earnestness on the subject until the commencement of the Session and the actual promulgation of the Ministerial scheme. The comparative quiescence in the world political, found little counterpart in the world ecclesiastical. The agitation in the Church of England was still going forward vigorously, the Tractarian sect having been excited to renewed violence by the Archbishop of Canterbury's recognition of the validity of the orders of ministers not episcopally ordained. His Grace adhered .with characteristic mildness and firmness, to his original statement, declaring that neither the articles nor the formularies of the Church of England justified such an opinion as that " no person, in any country, or under any circumstances, could be entitled to minister in the Church of Chiist, except through the imposition of episcopal hands.". . . . A " consultative" meeting of clergy from the Midland Counties had been held at Derby, for the purpose of promoting the revival of Diocesan synods, after the example of that recently held j .in the diocese of Exeter. The sympathisers with Bishop Phillpotts' views had all their own way on this occasion, and adopted resolutions accordingly. The meeting was adjourned to early in Febru,aiy, in London, — it being intended that a similar gathering should take place quaiterly. • From Ireland, we have little beyond a re : petition of former occurrences. We have ■marked a variety of extracts, however, for futuie inseition. The tide of emigration still •lowed, and in some^ diitrieta a scarcity of effective labour was experienced during, the hat vest. .. .The Catholic Defence Association was in operation, although it did not appear as yet to have proceeded much beyond prelimi-na'ies,-such as issuing an ° -Address" recounting the steps by which the Society was organized, reproducing 'the Resolutions adopt' d' at I the aggregate meeting at the Rotuuda in ! Dublin, and again denouncing the Ecclesiastical Titles Act as aimed not at " the assumption of titles," but at " the very vitality of the Catholic faith." The document was sinned, " Paul, Archbishop of Armagh, Primate ot all Ireland, Chairman.". .. ..The resolutions of the Mayo Eoaid of Guaidians, against the demand for the repayment of the advances to Ireland during the years of famine, had led to a co respondent between Lord Lucan and'Loid, J.ohn Russell, in which the Prime Minister dealt some seveie blows against the Board, and addressing Lord Lucan individually, obseived, " I must again ask' your Lord* hip, yourself a member of the Legislature, to' withdraw-your plea of setting yourself .above the. law, and to substitute for it those considerations to which the Treasury can i properly listen." The Board asked for an ,in.vesligation of. the. case by Parliamentary Committees. A corresponding spirit of opposition to the demand had been manifested equally decidedly in the in other parts of the Country;.. There aie details of the visits of Mr. Abbot Lawrence, the American Ministei, to Dublin, Cork, Limeiick, Gal way, and other towns. He was everywhere enthusiastically received. He promised to employ his best i efforts for the establishment of a direct line of J steam communication between <the United States and Ireland. , We observe in the obituaries the names of several notable persons. Amongst them are, the Earl of Liverpool, who died suddenly, leaving no heir to his titles which now become extinct: — Viscount Bolingbroke :— in his 81st year, the venerable Lord Stafford: — Count Reventlow, for the last ten years Danish Minister at the Court of St. James's : — the Hon. Marmaduke Langley : — in his 82nd year, Admiral Tancock,one of Nelson's officers: — and Alexander Lee, the popular musical compo-er, — Also, Princfc Frederick William Charles, uncle of the King of Prussia: — Don Manuel Godoy, ' the once celebrated and powerful " Prince of Peace" in Spain :— and the excellent Swedish Archbishop Yon Wingaid We trust it may yet be long before we are called on to add the name of •' Christopher North" to the obituary list ; but we read with regret that Professor Wilson's state of health was so bad that he was unable to deliver his usual course of Lectures on Moral Philosophy in the University of Edinburgh. Principal Lee had undertaken to supply the Professor's place during the Session.

Military News. — We are indebted to the Graham's Town Journal of the 3rd of January for the particulars of the brevet promotions, the commissions under which are to bear date the 11th of November, 1 851. We observe with pleasure that Captain Cockcraft, and Captain Hume of- the 58lh' Regiment, henceforth take rank as Majors. We select also from the list the following names of officers known to many of our readers : — To be Lieu-tenant-General — Major-Gerieral E. B. Wynyard, C.B. To be Colonel— Sir J. G. Le Marchanfo half-pay unattached (the successor, as rumour was pleased some time since to affirm, of Sir G-. Grey in the Governorship of New Zealand). To be Lieut, -Colonels — Majors J. Creagh, 80th Foot ; K. Last, 99th Foot ; G. M. Reeves, 99th Foot ; and G. Patience, 65th Foot. To be Majors— Capts. E. M. O'Connell ; 99th Foot : and G. F. Murray, 56th Foot. A General Order published in the same (Cape) paper as an Extract from the London Gazette, notifies the promotion of Colonel Henry Somerset, C.8., of the Cape Mounted Riflemen, to the brevet rank of Major-General : and notifies that Lieutenant W. F. G. Servantes, of the Gth Foot, had been allowed to retire from the service by the sale of his Commission.