ENGLISH INTELLIGENCE.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 44, 30 December 1842, Page 3

ENGLISH INTELLIGENCE.

{From the Colonial Observer.J March of Civilization. —We have just perused a letter, of date 26th January, 1842, from a gentleman residing in Auckland, the capital of New Zealand, giving an account of that prosperous and'flourishing colony, to his relation in Leith. The writer ‘says :—"We have just begun a subscription for the erection of a Scottish church, and we also intend to erect a school-house.. The subscription already amounts to £3OO. Government is bound to a sum equal to our subscription, provided that does not exceed £IOOO. That indefatigable and pious gentleman, the Rev. Dr. Lang, leaves Sydney for our colony, to the great joy of all the Scotch emigrants here. We are about to erect additional quays for the better accommodation of the many ships that now visit this- colony. Indeed, we want nothing but monied emigrants • and good government to render this the most magnificent colony that Great .Britain can yet boast of. Emigrants are pouring in from all quarters. Yesterday two vessels arrived from Port Nicholson, with nearly 100 passengers, and civilization is making rapid progress among the natives. Near to my dwelling are several New Zealanders (cannibals), who ride excellent horses, all their own property. Near them is sitting a most intelligent New Zealander, surrounded by a group of bro-ther-cannibals, to whom he reads the Maori Gazette, which they listen to with great attention. i saw a New Zealander one day leading a pig, and being asked its price, he replied, 4d. per lb., and referred the person thus inquiring to the price current, to convince him he was not asking too much.: — Caledonian Mercury.

Appalling Distress. —There is great distress in all parts of Ireland. The Rev. Mr. Porter, curate of St.'Peter’s, Killeshandra, has published an extract from a'letter written by a curate in Cavan, which represents the destitution of the Protestants in his district (who are about 2,000 in number) as extreme. He says —“ I can certify that numbers have been living for many days on boiled weeds, and that after their miserable repast the poor children are returned to their beds to stifle their cravings or cries for food; that strong men are reduced to infantine weakness, and the poor women are so worn and hunger-stricken, that they are scarce able to move. From early dawn to night my door is beset by supplicants for. and the tumul- has been hushed only by the sudden fall of some poor famished creature, whose fleeting breath has been with difficulty recalled by the feist morsel of food remaining undisturbed in my house." Australian Trust Company. —The halfyearly general meeting of the proprietors of this company was held on Saturday, at their office in Moorgate street. John Abel Smith, Esq., M.P., having taken the chair, Mr. Jones, the managing director, read the report of the directors, which stated that the company had commenced business in Sydney, on the 2nd August, 1841, and was proceeding under peculiarly favorable circumstances, and the Colonial Board felt confident that they should be able to make a safe investment of whatever funds might be placed at their disposal, and they had the pleasure to announce to the proprietors, that the.investments have proceeded regularly, and without any prospect of early interruption, on the scale authorised by them of £25,000 a month, and that the advances did not exceed one-half of the saleable value of the property mortgaged to the company. The state of the company to the Ist July, 1842, was as follows: —Sums received on calls, 158,310/; deposits and promissory notes, 61,240/; interest received, 6,000/; other receipts, 21,257/ —making a total of 247,000/. That the whole of the interest due in Australia to the Ist of January last, had been received, and the directors did not entertain a doubt but that they would be enabled to propose to the proprietors, at a meeting to-be held in January next, a dividend of 4 per cent, for the half-year, being at the rate of 8 per cent, for the whole year, upon the paid up capital of the company, and leave a large surplus for a reserved fund. William Hart, John Abel Smith, M.P., and Benjamin Green, Esqrs., three of the directors who went out by rotation, were re-elected; also, Abel Lewis Gower, Esq., one of the auditors. The accounts of the company had been audited by N. W. Senior, Esq., one of the Masters in Chancery, and the Right Honorable the Lord Mayor, who had severally signed the balancesheet. The report was then adopted, after which a vote of .thanks was passed to the Chairman and Directors, for the lucid statement they

had made of the affairs of the Cohipahy, for the ability and zeal tyith which they;had conducted it, and to express perfect confidence in the economy with which it had been managed. The chairman, in returning thanks, assured the meeting that he had every confidence in the success ans good working of the company. The meeting then separated, evidently satisfied with the proceedings of the day.