ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 124, 7 October 1846, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Indian Corn. — Owing to the failure of the potato crops, a good deal of attention in England has lately been directed to the different preparations of Indian corn as an article of food. The following receipts describe the most usual methods practised in North America, where it is extensively used ; and as Indian corn is cultivated to a great extent in New Zealand, their publication in the Spectator may be useful to the country settlers. 'If the New Zealanders were taught the most simple uf these methods of preparation, a most wholesome and useful addition to their present fare would be provided, and all improvements of this kind must naturally tend to promote their health and increase their comforts. We throw, out this hint to the Missionaries as worthy their attention. Indian corn, when ground, makes excellent gruel, prepared in the same way as oatmeal gruel ;■ and what is called mush, is the same thing as Lancashire oatmeal porridge ; but it is necessary in making this that it be very well boiled. In summer it is eaten cold, and is very much liked. Treacle may be eaten with this. Indian meal is considered a great improvement either in white or brown bread ; about one-third of Indian meal should be mixed with wheaten flour ; this is especially advantageous in case of the flour being damaged by wet. - Indian Bread is excellent, and is made thus: v — To a quait of sour milk or butter milk, as much corn meal should be added as will make it into a thick batter ; a little salt, and/a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda dissolved in water, acts upon the acid of the buttermilk, and the effervescence causes the bread to be light ; a spoonful of coarse sugar is an improvement, as is also a little butter or melted lard. This must be baked in wellgreased lins, sufficiently large to allow the cakes to be about an inch thick ; they must I>e baked in a quick oven. They are best eaten hot, but are very good cold. Treacle is excellent with these. When sour milk cannot be procured, fresh milk may be substituted, adding a tablespoonful of vinegar ; but the carbonate of soda must not be stirred in until just before putting into the oven. Another way of making this bread is to pour bciling sweet milk over the meal, and, when cool, add three eggs and a little salt. What is called Indian slap-jack would be very available in those parts of Great Britain where girdle cakes and bread of that description is used. They are very excellent, and are thus made : — Scald a quart of Indian meal ; when lukewarm add a few spoonsful of wheaten flour, half a teacupful of yeast, and a little salt, ami, when sufficiently risen, bake them on a well greased bakestone. They are best eaten hot. Another way, and the most approved here, is to mix about half the meal into boiling milk and water ; when cool, stir in the remainder of the meal, so as to make a thick batter, miung in two or three spoonsful of flour, three eggs, and twa teaspoonsful of salt. To make Johnny cakes : — Scald a quart of Indian meal with a sufficient quantity of water to make it into a thick baiter ; stir in two or three spoonsful of salt ; mould it in the hand into small cakes, rubbing a good deal of flour in the band to prevent them sticking. These cakes are fried in lard ; when browned on one side, turn the other. They take about twenty minutes in baking. Eat them hot with treacle. To make hoe cakes: — Scald a quart of Indian meal with a pint of water, enough to make a thick batter ; stir in two teaspoonsful of salt, and a small quantity of butter, melted ; put it into a well-greased tin, and bake it half an hour. Hominy is made from the unground Indian corn. The husk is freed from the grain in a mill, and the grain in this state resembles the finest tapioca. Boil it till soft in water. It is extremely good thus boiled and eaten in milk, and with the addition of a little sugar and spice, resembles English fermity. What is called sluts' homing is made by steeping the grains in weak ley, which loosens the husk, so that it is easily removed, without the necessity of the mill. . Bannocks or Indian cakes are made thus, and are fit ior the most" luxurious table : — Stir to a cream a pound of butter and a pound and a half of browu sugar ; beat six eggs and mix together • and a teaspoonful of cinnamon and the same of ginger ; stir in three pounds and a quarter of sifted Indian meal and a liarter of a pound of wheaten flour. Bake in ips or small tin moulds, and eat when cold. -Sussex Advertiser. « A society has. been formed entitled " the ritish and Foreign Society for promoting the olonisaiion of the Holy Land." Noblemen, embers of Parliament, and gentlemen of intience are amongst its members and supporrs. It is estimated that when the Electric Tegraph is fixed between London and Liver)ol, a communication, backwards and forardi, may.be T»ade ; in three- minutes, ■

The Austrian Army. — The Sunbian Mercury states that the Austrian army at present consists of 58 regiments of infantry, 17 frontier regiments, 20 battalions of grenadiers, 96 companies of chasseurs, and of 6 garrison battalions, in all 287,000 infantry. It has besides 37 regiments of cavalry, composed of 42,000 men ; 5 regiments of artillery, 12 companies of firemen, engineers, &c, of 42,000 men. It has also some extraordinary corps, consisting of 14,500 men, making a grand total of 369,000 men on the peace establishment. In time of war the army is increased to 800,000 men. The number of resident troops, such as guards, police, and gendarmes, is 15,000. The army has 7 marshals, 26 field marshals, generals of engineers, and generals of cavalry ; 93 lieutenant field marshals, and 123 majors general. — News of the World.

Death op the Governor of Sierra Leone. — We have to announce the den ise of his Excellency W. Fergusson, Esq., governor of the above colony and its dependencies, who died on his passage home, on board the Funckal, off Madeira, on the 19th Feb. The deceased gentleman was a member of the Army Medical Staff, and had only held the appointment, which is now vacant, a few months.— lbid. The last arrivals from the East brings accounts of a terrible conflagration in the city of Philippopolis, by which 700 shops, two mosques, and 140 of the finest bouses, were destroyed, causing a loss of no less a sum than 40,000,000 piastres. It is stated, in well-informed quarters, that the dissatisfaction felt by the Duke of Wellington and the other heads of the army at Sir John Littler's jeport of the retreat of the 62nd regiment in front of the batteries of Ferozeshah, is likely to accelerate the longrumoured amalgamation of the British and East-Indicn armies. It is thought that the jealousy between the two services is injurious, and would be diminished by placing the officers both of the Queen's troops and the Company's entirely under the same control. The intervention of the Company, although nearly nominal, is still considered calculated to separate the two services more than :s desirable. It is thought that Sir John Littler made his report in order that blame might not be justly imputed to his own branch of the service, which is the Indian y whereas, it is conceived that the only fault lay in the orders, which required the men to do more than was to be expected in the face of what the Duke o! Wellington termed a "fortress" rather than a "camp," and a fortress uubreached by guns. — Record.

The Press. — The power of the press is as boundless as that of society. It reaches the throi.e — it is welcomed in tl c cottage. It can pull down injustice, however lofty, and raise up lowliness, however deep. It castigates crime which the la.v cannot reach, and prevents those wliich the law cannot punish, without repressing them. Wherever an eye can see and a hand can write, there is the press. Persons in tribulation rely on it for redress, and they feel sure that wrong will not go unpunished if it be known to the journals. Like light, it penetrates into every nook and cranny of society, and carries help and healing on its beams. It nips rising abuses in the bud. It derives its vast power from the principal of its being. Seeking out truth, and representing reason, it concentrates on one point the whole moral power of society, and persuades and governs without violence, by the mere knowledge that the physical power of society is always ready to vindicate the right. AIS it comes into full operation, the course of society becomes uniform and equal, and its ends are obtained without those convulsions and rebellions, by which a rule unlettered people make their will known. — Douglas Jerrald's Shilling Magazine.

Nicholas at Sea. — The ship of the line called Russia is an overwhelming proof of the despotism of Nicholas. On visiting the vessel while on the stocks, he thought that there was not sufficient loom to walk about, and accordingly commanded the space to be enlarged ; even enforcing his opinion against that of competent judges. By consequence, this vessel is the very worst sailer in the whole Russian navy, and is very seldom employed. When he takes it into his head to command the movement of a ship, which he does almost every time he goes to sea, the capta'n of the vessel takes care always to keep behind him, in order, by counter-signals, to prevent the strict execution of his majesty's orders, which would inevitably lead to the loss of the ship and its august passenger. — Ivan Golovine's Russia under Nicholas.

Experimental Fleet for 1846. — We have reason to believe that another noble squadron of three-deckers and two-deckers, and a frigate, will be assembled at Spithead in the course of next month, where they will be inspected by the Lords of the Admiralty, and it may be, in the presence of her Majesty and Prince Albert. The squadron will be composed of the St. Vincent , 120, Capt. Sir

R. Grant, now flag-ship at Portsmouth ; the Trafalgar, 120, Capt. Nott, now flag-ship at the Nore; the Queen, 110, Capt. Sir H. Leeke, flag-ship at Devenport; the Rodney, 92, Capt. Collier, C.8.; the Albion, 90, Capt. R. Lockyer, C.8.; the Canopus, 84, Capt. F. Morseby, C.B. (no v in the West Indies); the Vanguard, 80, Capt. Willis; the Superb, 80, Capt. Corry; and the Raleigh, new 50-gun frigate, Capt. T. Herbert, K.C.B. It is piobable that this powerful fleet will be employed in a lengthened cruise of experiment and exercise. A squadron of steam-sloops will soon be ready, but it is not certain whether it will accompany the fleet of sailing ships. — Bristol Mercury, March 21.

Good Luck.—A labourer, named Barber, in the Woolwich dockyard, has been declared heir to a fortune of upwaids of £30,000. He is married, and lias three or four children ; has been a labourer in the dockyard for three years, and bears an excellent character for sobriety and industry. -

New Light.—M. Gaudin, a French chemist, has invented an inextinguishable light, from a combination of oxygen and ether, or alcohol, which, he says, can be distinguished at a distance of thirty miles.

The Rights of Conscience Respected. — The r late Duke of Norfolk bad in his service, at Farnham, a female who was a methodise One of the superior servants complained to the duke that this woman was too religious, and that she lost too much time in going to chapel. The duke asked her where she went to, and was answered, to Bury. "What!" exclaimed his grace, " a woman walk four mi'.es to a place of worship ! It is too far, and I desire that in future the boy may drive her in the gig every Sunday. She is right in worshiping the Almighty where and how she thinks best." — Christian Miscellany.

Bustle Extraordinary. — Found on the Gloucester-road, between Cirencester and the Stratton turnpike, a lady's bustle, of the following dimensions and composition :—lt: — It is one foot and a half in length, and measures five inches in circumference at the middle, the extremities becoming " small by degrees and beautifully less," until terminated by strings, the sudden breakage of which caused the sad loss. The bulk of this fashionable appendage to the female figure, was composed of a stocking, part of a towel, the sleeve of a siik frock, buttons and hooks and eyes included, front to ditto, and a piece of flannel, the whole ingeniously formed into a most ornamental and interesting " improvement" to that part of the " form divine" in which Nature has been so stingy, by the introduction of about a pound of wool.— Wilts Standard.

A Prophecy from the Potato.— We rememlier a nursery fragment — as, doubtlessj d.pes the reader, running thus :—: — * " The botcher, the baker, The candlestick maker, All jumped out of a rotten potato f We know not whether the good Father Mathew had this doggrel in his thoughts, but he has hopefully suggested that future plenty may be made to germinate from the present potato blight. The nohle meek-hearted man has written a letter to the Cork Examiner, in which he dilates on the use and importance of Indian corn as an article of food. He says, " I hope for many ulterior advantages from what at present is a calamity ; our people will be deterred from depending solely on potatoes for food ;" and he concludes as follows :—: — " With the gratifying prospects now befoie us of sufficient remunerative labour for the whole unemployed population of Ireland, I indulge in the expectation of soon seeing the potato reduced to its proper position of a vegetable to be used with flesh meat, &c, as an accompaniment, and no longer to be esteemed as an exclusive article ot food, except for hogs." , We fervently hope so too. And when Paddy | shall enjoy his own pork, with a bit of Sunday mutton or beef; shall break his daily bread of good wholesome corn ; when he shall be enabled to secure to his family these small comforts, originating in the present dire distress — made ultimately attainable by him in consequence of the attention of the legislature to his present misery — then let the little children of Ireland be .taught the above-named doggrel as a household song of comfort and thanksgiving, and let them (generously assuming the advent of the maker of candlesticks) pipe from contented full bellies, the realised prophecy — *• The butcher, the baker, The candlestick maker, Did jump out of a rotten potato/ We think that Victoria herself would hear as sweet music in this as ever she listened to in " God save the Queen." — Punch. Musquitoes. — The musquitoes are small insects, but we have seeen one move a person that weighed two hundred pounds, and* kept him moving all night. — American paper. ••'-

A Perilous Nursery Ground. — The children of the sloping isle of Rattray, when they first begin to toddle about, are tethered to ft stake to prevent them from rolling off

into tha sea! — Wilson's Voyage round Scotland.

Railway Demoralization.— The condition of the temporary colonies of navigators is fiightful; they live in a kind of promiscuous brutality, to which forethought, decorum, or even common decency is truly unknown — both sexes huddled together in the rudest profligacy, dirt, and riot. Their amusements, when work is done, are drinking and fighting; and violence, plunder, disorder, and disease,, are the natural fruits of this more than savage way of living. Where they are billeted in the villages, it is as bad. Their presence brings intemperance, strife, and dissolute manners into the lodging.if it were respectable before; and the whole neighbourhood suffers from the disorderly invasion. The pay-days are signalised by scandalous debauchery, and often by bloodshed. Another consequence of the reckless habits of these fellows is the frequency of dreadful accidents while they are at work. The instances of this kind in the report, particularly referring to a single structure —the great tunnel on the Sheffield line —are distressing to read of. In short, the evil is every way pressing and palpable enough ; the difficulty is to find a remedy for it. —Daily Neivs.

Railway Taxes. — The Great Western Railway paid to Government last year £30,000 for the tax of 5 per cent, upon its gross receipts ; while tbe amount paid for local taxes (poor's rates, &c.) amounted to nearly an equal sum ; thus making nearly £60,000 a year paid in taxes by that company. Consolation. — A Yankee editor, noticing the decease of a rich subscriber, observes that " he has died regretted by a numerous circle of friends, and leaving a widow as disconsolate as any widow need be who has obtained the uncontrollable possessiou of 20,000 dollars per annum.

A Frenchman's Opinion of the Oregon Claimants. —M. Duffot de Madras, attache 4 to the French legation in Mexico, spent the years 1841, '42, and '43, in exploring the California, as well as the territory hi dispute; and the result of his labours is published in four volumes, with a splendid map and illustrations, by order of the King of the French, and under the auspices of Marshal Souk and the minister for Foreign Affairs. After weighing the pretensions of the claimants, he says, emphatically —" If, nevertheless, it is incumbent upon us to declare our opinion on this important question, we cannot, despite all our sympathy for the United States, and even our deep aversion to the ambitious policy of England, refuse to acknowledge that justice and reason are, this time, on the side of the latter, and that she has an absolute and exclusive right to the territory in dispute."

Progress of Production. —At the time when a pair of silk stockings were'presented to Queen Elizabeth, they are said to have been woith their weight in gold, and nut another person, probably, wore so costly an article. In the present day Mr. M'Culloch estimates the consumption of silk stockings and gloves in England to amount annually to £2,500,000.

King Ernest on Love. — There are no lovers in Hanover ! Monstrous as it may appear, the fact is evident from the "general order" issued by the king for the regulation of marriages in his array ; for if there are lovers, then the regulations are still more monstrous. The royal matchmaker, or ra,ther matchbreaker, begins with a paragraph that ought to delight the protectionists here, it is so kind in its professions of taking people's affairs out of their own hands for their own good — "His Majesty the king, owing to the present state of society, which makes greater demands on the position of married officers, and in consideration of the frequent applications by the widows of officers (who are devoid of personal property) fojr pecuniary aid, has been induced to alter essentially the conditions under which a prospect has hitherto been permitted to officers of obtaining permission to marry, in order that (as'wellfor the benefit of the service as for that of the individual himself) betrothals may not be entered into, and consequent matrimonial connexions be formed, whose admission would only be prejudicial to the participating parties." This looks formidable enough. One can fancy the blank dismay which it may have cast on many a warm heart. But the sequel is worse. The king propounds ten rules which are to be-*"the~un-deviating standard" of applications for permission to marry — " 1. No-officer may enter id to a formal betrothal until he shall have obtained his Most Mightiness's- consent to his marriage : and any such formed without tha{ consent shall be considered invalid." No Gretna-green, alas ! under pain of illegitimacy to the children ! No stolen sweets in all Hanover ! Because King Ernest is virtuous, or at least because he is old, " there shall be no more ca'kesand ale"." A particular- class is especially excluded r from matrfmoffy-^-" 2. No application' for 'marriage permission' may be forwarded by x second lieutenant to his superiors, as it will under no circumstances be i taken notice of." . Also officers under twenty*

five years ot age are no longer nubile, by the regulations. But it is wonderful how the antihymeneal monarch searches out, heaps up, and minutely constructs obstacles to the fulfilment of lawful love — " 5. The documents which an officer applying for ' marriage per- J mission' has to furnish, shall, in the first place, refer to the descent of the bride, as his Majesty will not permit any officer to marry ,t«i« der his station ; and shall consist — a. In a circumstantial account of the station and affairs of the bride's parents ; b. In a certificate of baptism of the bride ; c. la the consent of the parents or sponsors to the intended marriage. Further, forthcoming documents shall extend to the pecuniary circumstances of the applicant ; who, in this regard, will have to -show in a credible manner and f jrm that he or his bride, or both together, possess a salary by means of which they shall be enabled to support themselves and a family in a manner suitable to their station, without being obliged <to have recourse to the military pay of the applicant, the free disposal of which, in the event of a war breaking out, must remain with him. TThis income, exclusive of the pay of the officer, is to consist of — a. For a rittmeister and -captain of the second class, and for a first .lieutenant, 800 dollars ; b. For the commander of a company or squadron, 1000 dollars ; •c. For a staff-officer, 1200. Besides these documents, the applicant must furnish his superior officer with a certificate of his own bap~tism." [The superior officer must also satisfy himself that no obstacle to the intended onarriage exists arising from any cause.] " And when he shall find himself in the above respects in a condition to forward on the application, he will still be only justified in doing so when he can speak favourably of the per--sonal good qualities and military zeal of the ■officer, and can recommend him as a good housekeeper (!) The application must be accompanied by the pedigree of the officer. 7. The number of married officers shall not exceed one-third of the regiment." Finally, applications for marriage sent to the adjutantgeneral must be referred to a committee of field officers ! How would these regulations operate among our own gallant officers ? Would they like, in all cases, to submit their pedigrees to the committee of field officers ? We suspect that some very brave fellows, some men who had done the state good service, would not have been able to produce very frondiferous genealogical trees, and ergo would not have proved marriageable by the Hano»eris>n regulations. Then again, how many of our young red-coats are " good house-keep-ers ?" We do not know what will be the feeling produced among the brave Hanoverians ; but if they have any pluck among them, the regulations are likely to have a very different -effect from that intended. They should be read inversely : instead of constructing them to mean that the king will not suffer any of his officers to marry except under the conditions specified, they ought to be accepted in -this sense — no one who resents this prying into purely personal matters should consent to be an officer in the Hanoverian army. There is, indeed, one loop-hole in the regulations. When Sir Robert Feel spoke lately of furloughs granted to common soldiers, and of their visits home, as conducive to morality, the House of Commons laughed ; we all know -why. Soldiers take licenses. In Hanover, it seems, license is to be the rule : the regulations say nothing against un-lawful love. But as to chaster attachments a new regime must be established. Suitors must woo by .authority — must pray the consent, not of blushing beauty, but of Major-General Freiherr Yon Baring, Colonel Hittberg, and Lieu-tenant-Colonel Potten, the committee aforesaid. The next thing will be to treat marriages by wholesale — to assemble eligible brides by scores, to let eligible bridegrooms make their advances in rank and file, and fire off their burning addresses at the word of command. Marriage will become a military evolution. This is not exactly a political affair ; but it is in such social, such intimately domestic matters, that we see the working of despotism when it is not enlightened— and -how often is it better ? When we say that a people are not " free," we mean that they are Jiable to these visitations. — Spectator.

A Lady's Calculation. — " Make haste, Edward, make haste down, you'll be too late/ .cried the anxious mistress of a pretty lodge at Kensington, to its hurried, flurried, worried as the omnibus that took him to town vdrove up to his gate the other morning. "How Ido hate this omnibus life !" she continued, as after two or three " Now, Sirs," -from the road, he darted past her, just in time. " Only to think of my being obliged to see .that dear fellow rush out of doors every morning as if the house were on fire! That horrid .oipuibus ' It doesn't care how husband and -wife part-.!" And the 'affectionate creature, ijgft to herself, sat down to meditate until his trefcurn, when the result began to unfold itself in this interesting observation :—": — " In my opinion, Edward, we could very well afford a cmtiriagei" A' moyement of th^eysbrows, and

» decided shake of the head, conveyed the discouraging answer. "Well, but think, now," pursued the lady, "just estimate the expenses. What would a carriage and horses, once purchased, cost in the year ?" A hundred a year," was the reply. " A.nd what, now, does the omnibus cost you ?" " Omnibas ? Oh,, why eight pounds." " But this you womld save," argued the lady ; " for if we had the carriage, yom would not want the omnibus, you know." " That's true ; yes, of course, I shall save the eight pounds." " Well, well !" cried the lady, with a look of exquisite simplicity, yet in a tone that implied something of exultation as a discoverer. " Well ! and wouldn't that be getting eight per cent. — News of the World.