ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 85, 23 May 1843, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

It is said that the new pier at Deptford, upon which 60,000/. have been spent, has been knocked down by auction for .50/. to a person who had lent 13,000/. to the concern.

Lord Stanley is about to visit his estates at Tipperary. Thirty-eight oxen, all fine cattle, have been landed at Falmouth, direct from Corunna. Lord Morpeth had arrived in the Great Western from his twelve months’ tour in the United States. Upwards of eight thousand pounds have been subscribed for the foundation of colonial bishoprics, in obedience to the call of the bishop of London. The king of Denmark has placed his Roman Catholic subjects on the same footing as other dissenters from the established church.

A most important controversy is now agitating the London newspaper world, the point at issue being, whether Mrs. Alfred Shaw, the vocalist, was or was not originally a factory girl. It is matter of regret to observe, by an article in the Natmielle, that extreme distress presses at this moment on the trading classes of the French capital. Upwards of 6,000 tradesmen have been convicted during the past four years, of fraudulently using short weights and measures. The Clarence railway, which is 36 miles in length, extending from the river Tees to Stockton, with numerous branches, is advertised for sale by the commissioners of public works. To the great displeasure of the French politicians, the canton of Zurich is endeavouring to effect the admission of Switzerland into the German commercial union.

The population of Malta is said to be 114,499 souls, of whom 44,192, exclusive of 566 professional beggars, are without ostensible means of subsistence.

A young man, named Joseph Hall, was apprehended at Warrington, whence he absconded four years ago, and whither he returned the other day from America, charged with stealing 5,000 dollars inTexian notes, from a gentleman at St. John's, New Brunswick. The stolen notes were found in his possession. The somavar,” an invention of a Russian peasant, is simply a cylinder in which cold water is brought to the boiling point in two or three minutes, by igniting the charcoal which fills an inner long cylinder. The great merits of this universal Russian implement are, that in a forlorn village, and without a fire, you at once command a cup of delicious tea, whilst, as long as the charcoal is in ignition (a good half hour or more), the water around it is continually on the boil.— Alexander’s East India Magazine.

The Great Britain Iron Steam-ship.— It was expected that this stupendous vessel, now building at Bristol, for the Great Western Steam-ship Company, and sometimes called the Mammoth, would be ready for sea early in the spring. The following particulars respecting her dimensions cannot fail to interest our readers : —Her length is 324 feet aloft, which is nearly 100 feet longer than the longest line-of-battle ship in our service; with the exception of her deck and cabins, she is constructed entirely of iron. Her extreme breadth is fiftyone feet, the depth of her hold thirty-two feet, and her registered tonnage 3,200, which far exceeds the registered tonnage of any two steam-ships in the world. She has four decks, three, of timber, and the fourth, which is the lowest, of iron, this latter being appropriated to the reception of cargo. The uppermost deck will be, with the exception of a small break in the forecastle, flush from end to end, and without elevation or building of any kind, so that there will be nothing above deck, with the exception of her masts and funnel, to offer resistanee to a head-wind. The two intermediate decks are exclusively for the use of the passengers and the officers of the ship; they will form four spacious saloons (which together, will make a length of dining-room of 350 feet), two commodious and elegant ladies’ saloons, or cabins, and 180 staterooms, each of which will contain two sleeping berths of more than the ordinary dimensions. There will thus be accommodation for 360 passengers, without making up a single sofabed, and in addition to this Vast space, there will be room for 1,000 tons of coal, and 1,200 tons of merchandise. The Great Britain will be fitted with six masts. Of these the mainmast alone will be rigged with the topmast and yards. The other five will be ninety-five feet, and the canvass composing the several sails will be sufficient to cover an area of three quarters of an acre. It is intended to fit up the saloons, &c., with a degree of. elegance becoming a ship of such an extraordinary character, and the whole of. her fittings will be such as to insure the comfort of the passengers, and adorn and beautify the ship. The Tuileries and TpE Louvre. —The Globe notices a rumour, thit during the next meeting of the chambers, the plan for,uniting the palaces of the Tuileries and the Louvre by a screen, resembling in architecture the facade fronting the Quay de Louvre, and thus forming one of the finest squares in Europe, will be presented. The centre will, it is said, according to this project, be ornamented with an equestrian statue of the Duke of Orleans, and the

attendance. There is no possible inducement to cheat me, and I have none to delude you. The ridicule attached to such dreams, beyond philosophy, will certainly force me to adopt a fictitious signature—all else is fact; and though I am as great a sceptic as any man living, I cannot disbelieve what I have written, which I pray some of your occult readers to interpret.” —lbid. Arrival op the Steamer Britannia.— The steamer Britannia, from Boston and Halifax, arrived at Liverpool on 16th November last, after a rather rough passage. The news regarding Texas and Mexico is important. It is stated, that the mediation of the United States had been offered, in the hope of bringing about a reconciliation between the two powers. It appears that Mr. Webster, by instruction of the President, had addressed a letter to the American minister, at Austin, inclosing a copy of instructions which had already been forwarded to Mr. Thompson, at Mexico, directing him to express, in the name of the American government, the hope that it might be deemed to comport with the interest of the Texian government to suspend any offensive military operation which might be in contemplation against the Mexican republic until it should learn the result of the negociation which Mr. Thompson had been directed to undertake. Files of Galveston papers had been received to the Bth instant. The war appeared to have fairly set in. A despatch, dated Camp Salado, 20th of September, mentions that Colonel Caldwell, with a force of 350 men, had an engagement with General Woll, in which the Texians came off victorious. The Mexicans left 100 killed on the field of battle, besides 200 wounded. A company of 59 men, calledthe Fayette volunteers, in attempting to join the camp of Colonel Caldwell, were cut off, and took position in a thicket, from which they defended themselves against an infinitely superior force, until completely cut to pieces; 33 of the number were found dead on the field, and

I works are to be entrusted to the direction c the civil list. The expense to be divided int two-thirds : one to be borne by the civil lisl one by the state, and the last by the city, to b laid out in the embellishments. If this projec be adopted, the idea, of purchasing the site bounded by the Pont-Neuf, the Quais d’Horloge and des Orfevres, and the Rue du Harlay will be relinquished, and the new wing 01 screen of the Louvre will be appropriated tc the royal library. Lawyers’ Fees. —We are gratified in being able to state, that his Honor the resident Judge has it in contemplation to reduce the lawyers 1 fees to their original standard, without even the intervention of a petition being presented to him for that purpose. In the West Indies, we perceive by a late paper, the Judges have come to a determination to lower the lawyers’ fees considerably, with a view to enable the poor man to obtain substantial justice equally with the rich; and we have ever been of opinion, an opinion which we are happy to perceive is daily gaining ground, that the foulest tax that can be forced upon any community is that which constitutes justice a dear commodity; we say justice, because we presume law is pretended to be justice; that it is not always so, many well know. —Port Phillip Herald. An Invisible Companion. —A correspondent in the Liverpool Albion gives the following narration “ A young lady of fifteen, in good health, and a mind by nature and education superior to her years, and a strength of reasoning superior to her imagination, without superstition and almost without fear, has recently been attended by an invisible being, whose footsteps she can distinctly hear, not always but occasionally, during her walks, where no echoes could arise, and frequently in the house, where she can plainly hear its steps ascend the stairs, and come into the room, sometimes standing behind her, and often sighing, its breathings being as palpable, as is if the warm breath of a human being was uttering a similar exhalation. You will, no doubt, laugh at the simplicity of this relation, and say it is a childish story.; but the honor and the heart of her of whom I speak preclude the possibility of deception on her part, and from her great strength of mind I am sure that she is not led away by idle fancies. She has frequently attempted to speak to this aerial being, but a something which she says is not fear, seems to choke her utterance. She, but more particularly her friends, have treated this subject with some ridicule; but a singular corroboration of its unaccountable truth has recently occurred, of which I have just been witness. A favorite cat, that is often in the habit of lying on her bed, seems frequently conscious of its presence, and this night I had an opportunity of seeing its strange probability. The good, the loved, the innocent, had just repeated her evening prayer, when the cat that was lying on the bed suddenly sprung up, as if some stranger had entered the room, and, looking for a moment in a particular direction, jumped off, and ran down stairs. The direction was the same towards which the young lady looked, quietly saying, “ I heard it come in, and it stood just there ;” for it seems to pass away on her speaking to her friends, or come and go of its own accord, without any circumstance that can mark or cause its unpleasant

rf the remainder supposed to have been made :o prisoners of war. The last accounts from the t, west represented General Woll as retreating e from San Antonia, but report further 3§ated that :t he fell back to meet a reinfoicemen^bS.l,soo e 'men. It was also reported by some spiGk that ■ a party of prisoners taken at Bexar had been , inhumanly murdered. Accounts were daily r expected at Galveston of a decisive battle between ) the contending forces. The Texas citizens, taken prisoners at Santa Antonio, numbering r 100 or thereabouts, have published an address > to the people of Texas, saying that they have ’ been treated with great leniency by General ? Woll indeed as prisoners of war. Two men i were shot at the time of the capture. It was ■ stated bv the spies that several prisoners had > met a similar fate. A rumour prevailed at ■ Linville that a Mexican reinforcement of 2,5Q0 L men -vvere at the Nueces, and Colonel Clark * Owen, of Texiana, was out to ascertain its truth. l Colonel W. G. Cook was again in the field, ' having joined General Burleson with 200 ' Texians and 100 Indians. General Almonto, the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the Mexican republic, had been presented to the President of the United States. In his address to the president no allusion is made to Texas, and the reply of the President is couched in the most friendly tone. We have dates from the seat of government in Canada to the 26th ult. Lieut.-Col. Cameron, C. 8., 79th Highlanders, is dead. The British Statesman says, “ that the men selected for justices of the peace are of the lowest description.” Mr. Morin has been gazetted as commissioner of crown lands. Most of the English Canadian papers denounce the policy of the governor-general, charging him with rewarding rebellion, and despising loyalty ; and a talked-of appointment of Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield to an office of high responsibility, it is feared, will exasperate the British party to a threatening attitude. The arrangements of Sir Charles Bagot for forming a new ministry have been fully completed, and the following is the result:—R. B. Sullivan, president of the council; S. B. Harrison, secretary, C.W.; J. E. Small, solicitorgeneral, C.W.; D. Daly, secretary, E.C.; L. H. Lafontaine, attorney-general, C.E.; T. C. .Alwyn, solicitor-general, C.E.; J. H. Dunn, receiver-general; F. Hincks, inspector-general; H. H. Killally, president of the board of works; A. N. Morin, commissioner of crown lands. These eleven are all men of ability, and very liberal in their politics. In the House of Assembly, composed of 84 members, it is asserted, upon pretty good authority, that there are only 13 decidedly opposed to the ministry, and 11 of them doubtful ; thu3 leaving them 60 firm supporters. Mr. Duncombe and Mr. Parent will retire from Parliament, but their places will doubtless be supplied by Mr. E. G. Wakefield and Mr. A. Morin, of the same politics. The death of Sir John Caldwell, late treasurer-general of Canada, is announced in our United States latest papers as having taken place at the Tremont-house, in Boston, on the 26th of October. The British frigate Pique had sailed from Quebec, with two companies of the Coldstream and two of the Grenadier Guards on board. The 7th Hussars had arrived at Quebec, and were to be sent home immediately.' —Weekly Chronicle

The Brazils.-^— By the arrival of the Swift from Rio de Janeiro, it appears that a severe action between the insurrectionary and imperial troops, on the 26th of August, put an end to the movement in Minas Geraes, 300 prisoners having been made, and 700 men laid down their arms a few days after ; one of the principal leaders was amongst the prisoners, an ex-deputy Ottoin, and two others ran away before a shot was fired. Four ex-deputies and one senator are now under arrest, and will take their trials by the new code of laws, their opposition to which, and to that creating a council of state, instigated them to raise the standard of rebellion. Prince Adelbert of Prussia had arrived at Rio, supposed for the purpose of forming an alliance with the imperial Princess Januaria. Baron Caxias had been raised to the rank of Marechal de Campo, and was to proceed immediately to Rio Grande, to take the command there, where it was sanguinely expected he would shortly put an end to that protracted civil war, particularly as the chief of the rebels, Bento Gonsalves, had retired from the command.—lbid.

Robbery op Diamonds worth Nine Thousand Pounds. —lnformation was received at Bow-street of the following great robbery of diamonds at Covent-garden theatre. It appears that Mr. Wolfe, who is a German diamond merchant, and is staying at the White Hart tavern, Bishopsgate-within, had received a supply of cut diamonds a few days ago from Brazil, to dispose of in the way of his business. Whilst sitting in the coffee-room of the above tavern in the morning, he showed the diamonds to a friend of his, whoin he thought might become a purchaser, and he observed two persons who had the appearance of foreigners, and wore moustaches, intently watching his movements. He incautiously mentioned in the coffee-room his intention of going to Coventgarden theatre in the evening. He went to Covent-garden accordingly, and he observed

the two foreigners whom he had seen in the coffee-room, in the same box with him. Ilia suspicions, however, were not excited, but on leaving the theatre, he missed the tin-box from his breeches pocket; which contained the diamonds. The box was seven inches long, and five inches broad, and two inches deep, and the end of it was visible, protruding from his pocket. —Weekly Chronicle .

Highland Music.— We mentioned in our last that the managers of one of the London opera-houses had g'one north to engage thirtytwo pipers and dancers for a theatrical speculation in London, where they are to perform our national music and dances in the costume of the Highland, and thence to proceed to Paris during the carnival, and from thence to Germany. We understand that they have been successful, and that the pipers and dancers who performed before her Majsty have been preferred, which, no doubt, will prove a high recommendation to the individuals, and will give an attraction to the spectacle which could not otherwise be obtained. Much attention, we understand, has been paid to ensure the comfort of the persons engaged; their fathers, mothers, or some near relatives, have been invited to accompany them. This will be a more profitable excursion to many than the “ Loudon hairst,” and will at the same time serve to keep alive the peculiar dress and athletic exercises of the Highlanders,, which would have been now almost extinct but for the local associationd for their encouragement, most of which has their origin in the visit of George IV. —Perth Courier.

Wyatt’s Statue of Wellington. The model of this magnificent work of art has just been completed. It is a bronze equestrian statue, intended to be placed on the triumphal arch facing Apsley-house, subscribed 'for by the country at large, and undertaken by Mr. M. Wyatt, whose energies have been unceasingly devoted to its production during a period little short of two years. The model gives promise of a result alike honourable to the artist, the country, and the man. It is of colossal dimensions, measuring in height from the horse’s hoof to the crown of the warrior’s head, 28 feet 2 inches. Some idea of its magnitude may be gained from the fact that a life