ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 155, 23 January 1847, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Notwithstanding the opposition given hy the Spitalfields weavers to the passing of the late Free-Trade measures, it is a fact that they have not been in such brisk employment as at present for many years past. There is not in the whole district of Bethnal-green or Spitalfields a narrow-silk weaver out of work. A vessel having the name of Richard Cobden, which has arrived in the West India Docks, from St. Jago de Cuba and Cienfuegos (Foreign West India islands), has brought, among various descriptions of articles from the latter place, 28,000 lars of corn. The importation of so large a quantity of corn in a vessel so named, and reported in so singular and unusual a manner from the place mentioned, possesses a degree of interest which would not otherwise attach to it, and is worthy of especial notice. A letter from Ischel of the 12th July states that, whilst the Archdukes Albert and Charles Ferdinand of Austria were out on the previous day, driving on the borders of the Lake of Hallstadt, a thunder-storm came on. The electric fluid fell quite close to the carriage, and frightened the horses so much, that the leaders jumped into the lake, and the others dashed against a rock and were killed instantaneously. The Princes were not hurt. The reported failure of the potatoe crop in Ireland has again produced a great demand for Indian corn. Large quantities have been sold in Liverpool at a slight advance in price. It is still, however, the cheapest article of food that can be purchased. Madame Laffarge, the heroine to the romantic cause celebre, so notorious a few years ago, has for some time been in a state of illhealth that prevented her quitting her cell. — On Sunday last, however, she went, m the penitentiary dress, to hear mass in the prison chapel. Madame Laffarge, having asked as a favour to be allowed to devote herself to the service of the sick, she has been charged with the superintendence of the infirmary.

French Coal Mines. — The report of the engineer appointed by the administration of roads and bridges in France states that that country is in the third rank in the production of coal — England and Belgium being the first and second. The production of England annually is 23,500,000 tons; of Belgium, 4,500,000 ; of France, 3,783,000 ; and of the Zollverein, 3,000,000 tons. France contains 425 coal mines, on a surface of about 450,000 hectares; of these 17S are not worked. These mines employed in 1844 nearly 30,000 labourers. About 1,500,000 tons are imported from England and Belgium. It is said that Herefordshire is the only country in England in which' there is not a steam engine. 1,505 slaves had been emancipated last year in the four colonies of France. This number, added to the 43,742 enfranchised before, carried the total to 45,247 freed men.

Metropolitan Improvements. — The whole of the old and miserable dwellings on Saffron-hill and its vicinity are to be forthwith demolished, for the formation of the new street from the end of Farringdon-street to Islington, which has been delayed till the result of the Parliamentary report on the Metropolitan Railway Termini should be known.

A Greek Vessel at Cork. — Immense crowds of the curious have visited a Greek vessel, the Anotte, freighted with Indian grain on account of Government, and now lying at our quays. The peculiar construction and equipment of the vessel have attracted the attention of many, but the "cut," costume, complexion, and movements of the crew have arrested intense wonderment. It would be hard to say whether the long jack boots, the ample inexpressibles — resembling long gov.ns tucked slightly vp — the close fitting jackets — the red tasselled caps — the bronzed visages — dark eyes — or large mustaches, were most admired. Free Trade in corn has already opened the way for visitors, none of whose nation scarcely ever before sailed, for purposes of traffic, up the river Lee. These Greeks are decidedly the " Lions " of the day. So excessive was the popular curiosity, that application had to be made to the mayor for protection against the people who thronged on board, and it was with much difficulty, after his Worship had ordered the attendance of the police, that either the captain in his cabin, or the crew on deck, could be saved from inconvenient and, occasionally, rude intrusion. At one time the whole ship's company apprehended violence, and were preparing their arms for defence ; but the presence of the police brought both parties to an amicable understanding. Each seemed to be paiticularly amused — the Greeks at the curiosity they excited, and the crowd at the curiosities they saw. Who can be surprised at the astonishment to which the Christian "pale faces" give rise, on their first appearance on some Pagan shore, when the sunburnt physiognomies, and amply flowing nether garments of these strangers excite

such general and inordinate curiosity among ourselves ? — Cork Reporter.

Governor Grey and Governor Fitzroy. — Since the following article was written we have received intelligence from New Zealand to the 25th of January. The war — if war it is to be called — was not at an end, though the Times heads its second edition with that catchpenny title, as a seller of broadsides might have done, and for the same purpose — to force a sale. But the insurrection had been compressed into the narrowest limits. Kawiti's pah had been stormed and taken ; Heki had set fire to his pah, and taken to the bush ; and Governor Grey had issued a proclamation granting a free pardon to all the chiefs who had sent in their submissions. In the course of little more than two months Governor Grey has received the submission of all the insurgents, with the exception of Heki and a few followers, who are skulking in the bush without a fortress and without friends. The mob-insurrection that Governor Fitzroy was nursing into a war — to which he was about to capitulate — was crushed. In the course of one month (on Dec. 14) Governor Grey had compelled the Auckland officials to render intelligible accounts to the beginning of November, 1845 — neither the Local nor the Home Government having ever before been able to extort an intelligible statement from them. And upon these foundations Governor Grey was proceeding to establish a national and efficient Government in the colony. His simple magic was seeing with his own eyes and judging with his own judgment — inquiring for himself, deciding for himself, and being present to see that his orders were executed. "His Excellency Governor Grey," says the narrative of the capture of Kawiti's pah, " was present during the whole of the operations, and was eyewitness to the assault." And now we ask what is to be done with Captain Fitzroy ? Captain Fitzroy arbitrarily suspended the law by his own despotic authority, relieved Rauparaha &Rangihaeatafrom standing a trial, and issued a pardon to them for the murder of thirteen British subjects in cold blood. Captain Fitzroy skulked at Auckland, while Heki and Kawiti, with a train of robbers and murderers, were laying 'waste British settlements around the Bay of Islands. Capiain Fitzroy suppressed a despatch fiom the Secretary of State for the Colonies refusing to sanction his assignats, and continued to issue more of his illegal paper money. Captain Fitzroy offered to pay black- mail to the banditti of the northern peninsula. Captain Robert Fitzroy has rendered himself amenable to a civil court for his violations of British law, and to a courtmartial by his absenting himself from the scene of danger. We do not mean that being off duty he could technically be said to have neglected it : but surely some inquiry is necessary before one who so cautiously kept out of harm's way be allowed to retain his commission. We wish no severe infliction upon the poor man now that he could do harm no longer ; but these things ought to be inquired into, and no means so exempt from suspicion as courts of justice, civil or naval. — Colonial Gazette, 20th June.

A Lady of Lions. — My friend had a viait to pay to M. L — , a French gentleman, and I accompanied him. The house was open, and on entering the inner court, we knocked at the door of a saloon ; we were requested, by a female voice, to 'come in.' M. R — opened the door ; then, with an air of consternation, shut it immediately, and told me there were two lions going about at liberty in the saloon. He had scarcely told me this, when Madame L — herself opened the door, and begged of us to enter, observing that we need be under no alarm, as the lions were perfectly tame. We followed (he lady, and as soon as I sat down, the male lion came and laid his head on my knee. As for the lioness, she leaped on the divan beside Madame L — , looking at us from time to time, and sometimes giving a growl like an angry cat. These two lions were about seven years old, and very great pets. Madame L—called away that one which seemed to have taken a liking to me, and I was not sorry to see him withdraw peaceably. We took our departure, carefully avoiding any hasty movements. When I was out of the house, I felt that I could breathe more at my ease. I was amazed to find that a lady could muster courage to trust herself with two such companions. — Algeria in 1845.

A Romantic Dwelling. — In the cliffs j on the other side of Hastings (about a couple of minutes' walk from the town), an Irishman has made himself about as romantic a dwelling place as it is possible to conceive. The cliffs hear are more than one hundred feet alcove the sea. Rather more than half way up, there is a small ledge, below which it is perpendicular; but it is accessible by a side path. Above, the cliffs again rise perpendicular. It is this ledge that the Irishman chose for his habitation. Scooping out the sand in the face of the cliff, he made an arched cell, v/here he lived with his wife and an adopted child — a cripple, but

very intelligent boy. The man gains a livelihood by breeding rabbits, squirrels, &c, and by the contributions of visitors to his strange abode. Among the latter are a good many artists, and Landseer spent three days on the spot, in sketching it and the surrounding scenery. Magnetic Telegraph in the United States. — The magnetic telegraph is working wonders in this country. It promises (among other good effects) to put a stop to such newspaper competition for intelligence as resulted in the issuing of unreliable news in " extras." In one year magnetic communication will be completed throughout the United States, and the result upon the character of our newspaper press will, it is thought, be most salutary, making their value rest upon the ability with which they are conducted, rather than, as hitherto, upon their mere business enterprise in anticipating news. A country 3,000 miles long will be as much within reach of Washington for important communication, as the squares of London within reach of the House of Commons. Had the completion of the telegraph been but one year earlier, for example, General Games (who is now called to account for expending a million to raise regiments of volunteers at New Orleans, rather than wait fourteen days to hear from Washington, 1,500 miles distant) might have .heard from there in fourteen minutes, and thus saved the country's money and his own standing. One of the papers gives the curious possibility that, in a magnetic line from New York to the mouth of the Columbia river, a telegraphic despatch might gain five hours on the sun. News leaving New York at 12, that is to say, would reach there at seven the same morning; from difference of longitude, five hours earlier than it started ! The field of speculation on the effect of this "lightning post " upon America and her institutions is boundless. — Correspondent of the Morning Chronicle. THE WEED. BY MRS. FRANCES SARGENT OSGOOD. Wild words wander here and there, God's great gift of speech abused, Makes thy memory confused ; | But let them rave I The balm-cricket carols clear, In the green that folds thy graveLet them rave i Tennyson. Wi en from our northern woods pale Summer, flying, Breathes her last fragrant sigh — her low farewellWhile her sad wild-flowers' dewy-eyes, in dying, Plead for her stay, in every nook and dell. A heart, that loved too tenderly and truly, , Will break at last — and in some dim, sweet shads They'll smooth the sod o'er her you prized unduly, And leave her to the rest for which she prayed. Ah! trustfully, not mournfully, they'll leave her, Assured that deep repose is wellcomed well; The pure, glad breeze can whisper nought to grieve her, The brook's low voice no wrongful tale can tell. They'll hide her where no false one's footstep, stealing, Can mar the chastened meekness of her sleep ; Only to Love and Grief her grave revealing, And they will hush their chiding then — to weep ! And some — for though too oft she erred, too blindly She was beloved — how fondly and how well I Some few, with faltering feet, will linger kindly, And plant dear flowers within that silent dell. I know whose fragile hand will bring the bloom Best loved by both — the violet — to that bower ; And one will bid white lilies bless the gloom ; And one — perchance — will plant the passionflower I Then do thou come — when all the rest have parted— -Thou, who alone dost know her soul's deep gloom, And wreathe above the lost, the broken-hearted, Some idle weed — that knew not how to bloom.

Wife Brokerage. — The following paragraph taken from the New York Mirror, shows the way in which some parties manage matrimonial matters in America :—": — " At Philadelphia, on Monday, one German sued another for five dollars, the price of commission for procuring the latter a wife. The objection was that the charge was too high. The plaintiffproved that the defendant stated his wish for a wife — the former, in half an hour, brought a German, to whom the defendant was married in three days. The plaintiff was allowed his whole claim."

Who Killed the Corn Laws? — Now that the Corn Law is fairly knocked on the head, an inquest is being held for the purpose of ascertaining who had the merit of putting an end to its existence. The evidence is very contradictory. A large portion of the public attribute its decease to Sir Robert Feel, and the Protectionists swear " alone be did it !" but Sir Robert denies "the soft impeachment," and says Richard Cobden was ths man. Richard Cobden acknowledges that he had something to do with the matter, but that the catastrophe was greatly owing to the exertions of Sir R. Peel, Lord John Russell, Colonel Thompson, Mr. Villiers, and various other labourers in the closet and on the platform. The Jbxaminer thinks that those, who worked for the Reform Bill — who swept away the rotten boroughs, and so brought the Cob-

dens, &c, into Parliament, and gave additional force to the voice of the constituencies — contributed their fair quota to the result ; and Ta.it puts in a claim on behalf of Ebenezer Elliott, the " Anti-Corn Law Rhymer.", 1 Adam Smith, too, and various other mighty pioneers, cannot be set aside as having done nothing, simply because others have forgotten, or are ignorant of, what they have done. Honour to all workers ! — but we cannot help thinking that our modern great authorities, in' • complimenting each other, rather loose sight • of a power that had, after all, something to do in killing the Corn Law — to wit, the press. The newspaper press, for the most part, was strongly opposed to the corn monopoly, and laboured early and late before leagues were started or Ministers converted. The press it was that woiked in independents-operation with the League organization, and that gave it name, fame, and efficiency. Nothing could be more admirable than the conduct of that organization, but without the press, instead oi " a great," the League would have been a little " fact,' ' and the Corn Laws yet unrepealed. In short, a vast amount 'of power was brought to bear against the Corn Laws from different quarters ; and the nearness of the result shows how little of it could have been spared. Subtract any one of the principal agents — Sir Robert Peel, Lord John Russell (who brought over his party), Richard Cobden, Colonel Thompson, the League, or the press, and who will venture to affirm that the Corn Laws • would not have been yet on the statute book? To some honour is pre-eminently due ; but there have been many humble but earnest workers, whose individual labours have in no slight degree contributed to the great result. Nor should we forget divers very efficient workers of another class. Is it to be supposed that Mr. William Miles, with his grease and tarred butter orations, and unaffected horror of abundance ; that Sir Edward Knatchbull, with his claim for " protection," on the score of Kentish pippins and marriage jointures; that Lord Stanley, with ris preposterous Tamboff blunders ; that the Duke of Richmond, with his ingenious admissions about salmon ; that Colonel Sibthorp, by his brilliant sallies ; — is it, to be supposed, we say, that these men done nothing towards the downfall of monopoly ? Certainly they did. A speech from a Miles or a Tyrell in favour of " protection" was only less destructive than a speech from Cobden or Villiers against it. Most ungrateful would it be, when we take into account the causes which led to the downfall of the Corn Laws, to forget the speeches of the Protectionists. We are afraid, however, that these latter gentlemen will modestly decline being identified with the death of monopoly. Well, every man to his taste. The work is done, and well done ; and those who did it are not likely to quarrel amongst themselves for the sake of appropriating the "lion's share" of the credit. Posterity will settle that matter, without fear, favour, or partiality. — Bristol Mercnry.