The New-Zealander. AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, MAY 14, 1853.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 739, 14 May 1853, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, MAY 14, 1853.

Be just and fear not: Let nil tnc ends thou aim'st at, be thy Country's, Thy (lod's, and Truth's.

By the arrival of the Daniel Websl'cr, which reached our port from Sydney on Wednesday, we are placed in possession of English news to the 15th February,—being nearly a month more recent than that brought by the direct ship which arrived here on Monday. This speed of communication has been attained through the successful passage of the Harbinger— the first steamer sent out to Australia by the General Screw Steam Shipping Company,--which, without had 1 the preliminary nourishes of the Australian Royal Mail, Company has accomplished at the outset what none of the latter Company's vessels has ever approached, making the voyage from Southampton in 03 days. The Harbinger had tailed on the 1 iih of February, and

obtained before she left the Cape further intelligence coming down to the 15lh, brought by the steamer Queen of (he South.

The A.R.M. steamer Adelaide had at last "turned up" however, and from the notices of her adventures which will be found in our shipping columns it may be hoped that ere now she has reached Sydney, so that we may bv and by receive our share of the contents of her mail. This may be a matter of considerable private importance, but as to public news, the papers she brings have been so long anticipated that her arrival can have very little interest indeed. Some of the causes of the Adelaide's delay will be found graphically recorded in two letters from one of her passengers, the Rev. Robert Young, which we copy. [We may note in a parenthesis that the reverend writer of this letter has come out as a Deputation appointed by the Wesleyan Conference to visit its Mission Stations in' Australia and New Zealand, and may probably be expected in Auckland before long.] The Australian steamer was to leave Plymouth for the Cape and Australia on the 24th of February ;—we shall observe with interest whether her second passage will be any improvement on her first; —and the General Screw Steam Company's second vessel, the Hellespont, was to sail on the 26th of February, The most interesting fact bearing on New Zealand intercourse with Europe, however, is the progress of the arrangements for the Panama route. The Pacific Mail Steam Company expected to commence early operations, —the builders of their new steamers for this line having engaged to deliver the first vessel in June,—the others lo follow in monthly succession.

The news brought by this arrival is of more than ordinary importance in some of its particulars. As we have not any English journals to the latest dales, we must content ourselves with the summaries of our colonial contemporaries, and, in this instance, we take one which is unusually full and satisfactory from tin* columns of the Sydney Empire. We shall here merely indicate two or three of the principal items.

On the re-assembling of Parliament on the 10th February, Lord John Russell made a statement respecting the intentions of the NeV Ministry as to the measures to be bronght forward during the session, which will be found in another column, and will, no doubt, be read with great interest The portion of it which has paramount importance for this side of the world is the announcement that Transportation to Van Diemen's Land is to be totally abolished. This is indeed a great triumph of right principle, and no words could be 100 strong to express the gratification with which it should be hailed throughout Australasia. In connection with this step, Lord John intimated that the whole question of secondary punishments must be re-considered ; and" again, as connected with that subject, the Education of the People. The connection is obvious: ignorance is the prolific parent of crime : but the subject thus comprehensively viewed is of vast magnitude, involving, moreover, points which ibe dis-united slate of public opinion at home invest with great difficulty ; and a Ministry that could grapple with the mighty question so as to place the whole on a permanently safe and satisfactory footing would be entitled to the gratitude not only of Use present but of future generations. We shall await with solicitude the development of the scheme by which it may be proposed to attain the c.h\, —only hoping that the expectations raised by his Lordship's statements may not end in the disappointment which has too frequently been the lot of those who repose unhesitating confidence in the promises of new Cabinets.

The other loading measures indicated by Lord John were, an increase in the Army Estimates (though not in the number of men) —a favourable consideration of Jewish Disabilities, —a concession to the Canadians of the control over the Clergy Reserves which has long been very warmly contended for; a pilotage bill, and other measures for the benefit of the shipping interest ; law reform; and a measure on the vexed question of the relations of landlord and tenant in Ireland. The Budget was to be brought forward soon after Easter, and all disclosure of the views of the Government respecting the Income Tax was deferred till its production. A Reform Bill would be introduced, but—-not till next year. Mr. Gladstone having been returned by the University of Oxford, all the Cabinet Ministers were re-instated in their seals. On the whole the new Ministry seemed to possess a large share of public confidence; and, when it is considered that it includes so many of the most able and experienced statesmen of the day, there can be no doubt that it will prove a singularly strong and powerful Government, —that is, provided it should have and retain the power of coherence between the parts of which il is composed,—purls which are certainly heterogeneous, and have usually been found rather antagonistic than combining elements. The marriage of the Emperor Louis Napoleon takes us rather by surprise, as the last accounts represented him as a rejected suitor of the Princess Vasa, and it might have been thought that there was scarcely time for him to be "on with a new love." But the pseudo-hero of the coup d' etat of Dec, '2nd is not easily disheartened. Mademoiselle Eugenie Moniijos, Countess of Thcba in Spain, is described as a young lady of great personal attractions. She is of Scottish descent by the mother's side, her maternal grandfather having been Mr. Kirkpatriek, a Scotchman, formerly English Consul at Malaga ; and she had been herself for some time a pupil at a school in Bristol. It is a dazzling elevation for a ladv not of roval blood to be at once made Empress of one of the greatest nations in the world ; but we fear she stands on a slippery eminence. Who would venture to predict what may be her lot before ten—or live—years shall have elapsed? An insurrection—believed to be instigated by Mazzini, with the co-operation of Kossuth —had broken out at Milan in the begining of February, but it had been suppressed, although not without the loss of several lives.

We once more—and necessarily for toe last time with reference to the coming elections remind all who have not yet lodged their claims to vote, that this day affordsth e final opportunity for their doing so. The Police Office will be open for the purpose until four o'clock in the afternoon (as indeed, with a view to the accommodation of claimants, it has been on Saturdays as well as other days during the month allowed f or registration ;) but those whose claims are not delivered by that hour to-day will have forfeiled their right to a privilege—exclusion from which by any legislative enactment most of them would doubtless regard as a grievance and a wrong. We are glad to see that Colonei Wynyard's Committee have been actively exerting themselves to procure this complete registration, independcntlv of any special reference to the part that individuals may take at the election of Superintendent. Amongst other steps to this end, a striking placard was yesterday posted by their direction through the city and neighbourhood, urging on all the importance of sending in their claims within the appointed time. W r e learn that the Lists of Claims will be posted for public inspection on the 20th of ' this month, at the same places at which the Lists of Claims previous to the Provincial Councils Election were exhibited ; and that the Meeting of Justices of the Peace to hear objections (if there shuld be any), and finally form the Electoral Roll for the districts" of which Auckland will be the polling place, is to be held on the fifteenth Juue.