LATE ENGLISH NEWS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 159, 6 February 1847, Page 3

LATE ENGLISH NEWS.

In the obituary for September we notice the names of Dr. Carey, bishop of St. Asapb, in bis 77th year; and Sir John Williams, one of the judges of the Queen's Bench, in bis 70th year. The new North Docks at Liverpool are proceeding with great rapidity. Fire out of the seven are apparently more than three fourths excavated, the greater portion of their walls is built up, and the formation of two other docks at the extreme north has been commenced. Not only is the sea wall in front of these docks nearly completed, but the greater portion, as far north as the site of the intended battery, is in a forward state, and the embarkment will in a few months entirley prevent the influence of the tide upon the sands at this spot. Liverpool will then have a sea wall of nearly five miles in length, broken only by the entrances to the tidal basins of its docks. The Grand Duke Alexander of Russia has sent an extensive order to a mercantile house in Inverness for tartans.

The Meanee Coi.tTMN.-We understand that preparations are going forward for having the Meanee Column cast in Calcutta, and that 44 brass guns of various sizes have been sent from Scinde for the purpose. The Column is to be 130 feet in height, including the plinth, base, shaft, capital, and a figure of Britannia 10 feet in height, which with a pedestal of 7 feet in height, is to surmount the whole. The design was drawn ty Colonel Waddington of the Bombay Engineers. The column is to be of the florid Corinthian order, and its shaft 60 feet in height, and 7 feet in diameter. The figure will be of brass gilt. This column is destined to adorn Bombay, and will, as we hear, be erected on the esplanade near the Wellesley statue. India Paper. One of the handles of the coffin of Mary Queen of Scots was sold among the late Mr. Upcott's collection of curiosities for two guineas. — Standard. A helmet, similar to that worn by the Prus. siau army, is to be adopted by the British army, in place of the late chaco, which is universally disliked. A.t the celebration of the coming of age of Lord Burghley at Stamford, the tapping of the " Great Lord Burghley Vat" excited much interest. This immense vessel of ale, which was tapped at 12 o'clock by Lord Burgh'ey, contained 1200 gallons ; it was brewed in October 1825. Each of the 600 tenants who dined had placed before him, besides wines, a quart of old " Sir John."

The works of Messrs. Macfie and Sons, sugar-reiiners at Liverpool, in Bachelor-street, Dale-street, were totally destroyed by fire on Thursday night. The building, one of seven stories high, was considered the safest in the kingdom, with the exception of one in London. The damage is estimated at «g60,000 ; 100 people will be thrown out of employment. The premises, stock, and machinery are said to be fully insured. From Scinde we learn that choleta had ceased to ravage Kurrachee and Hydrabad, in both of which places it had spread devastation. Sir Charles Napier, who has gained golden opinions by his kindness to the sufferers, had ordered the old walls of Kurrachee to be demolished and the town to be improved. His nephew and secretary, Captain John Napier, of her Majesty's 62nd Regiment, had fallen a victim to the relentless malady : he was much regretted. Theonly officer who died at Hydrabad was Lieutenant A. D. Campbell, of the 17th Reg men t Native Infantry. Fever had abated at Sukkur. Her Majesty's 17th Regiment, which had suffered much there were stated to be about to come to the coast, in order to embark either for the Cape of Good Hope or for England. The Calcutta journals describe a most extraordinary act of plunder in the centre of that capital. Sixteen men, well armed, entered a goldsmith and banker's shop, wounded several people, and then retired with their spoils. The police of that city had not discovered the perpetrators. It was openly stated that the shopkeepers there paid "black mail" to escape from being attacked. This is an astonishing admission in the British capital of India. The city of Poonah had not been so healthy this year as usual; fever of a typhoid character prevailed. The Commander*in-Chief, Sir T. M'Mahon, had recovered from an attack of it. A new crime had been found out in Bombay* A gang of hardened ruffians poisone d a number of buffaloes, then brought the carcasses, which they sold to the batchers in the public market, to be disposed of as meat at the hottest season of the year, they were to be tried at the next criminal sessions. News from the Mauritius to the 11th of July has been received by this opportunity. One of thj most remarkable circumstances mentioned is the expulsion by Sir W. Goram, the Governor of that island, of a Roman Catholic priest, who, by his skill as a surgeon, performed the Caesarian operation on the body of a dead woman, and saved her child, which survived twenty-four hours. The newspapers of that colony were loud in their denunciations of this sentence. ■ The affair had produced a sensation in the Mauritius. The only known substance from which Bath bricks can be made is a sludge or mud, deposited by the river Parrot, and of such deposits it is only that within a mile above and a mile below the town of Bridgewater that will do. They are used, as every one knows, far cleaning knives, &c. The Fry Refuge. — The subscription towards " The Elizabeth Fry Refuge," for affording temporary food and shelter to destitute females on their discharge from the metropolitan jails, now amounts to nearly £5,000. Among the subscriptions within the last few days are their Majesties the King and Queen of Denmark £50, and an anonymous donation of £200 from an individual signing A. U.C.

Employment otf Convicts. — It was stated in the last annual report of the Inspectors of Millbank Prison, that arrangements had been made for supplying the convicts, both male and female, with work during their voyage to the places to which they Were transported ; and in the report just issued, a very satisfactory account is given of the good effect which employment has produced upon the discipline of the ship and the health and conduct of the prisoners, as also of the amount of work executed. Several of the surgeonssuperintendent have asserted that more than double the amount could have been executed, had sufficient materials been placed on board. An increased supply has in consequence been provided. It is added by the inspectors in their last report, just printed, " These results of the experiments of furnishing work to the convicts during a long voyage to Australia are highly gratifying, and reflect great credit on the officers in charge of the ship, and on the prisoners." — Times. The will of Louis Bonaparte, ex-King of Holland, was o, ened at Florence on the 26th of July, the day after his demise. After recommending his soul to the Almighty, he expresses his wish that his remains should be sent to St. Leu, near Paris, to be near those of his father, Charles Bonaparte, and of his eldest son, who died in Holland in 1807. He wishes the remains of his second son, who died in Italy in 1831, to be also brought to the same place, and he appropriates a sum of £2400 to the erection of a monument. I have, says he, borne the name of that village for forty years, and I liked it better than any other place. He makes a present to the mv-

nicipal body of Amsterdam of all the property he formerly possessed in Holland, that the income arising from it may relieve the misfortunes occasioned every yeaj by inundation* He bequeaths to the poor of Florence a rather considerble a sum. To his Imperial Highness the Grand Duke of Tuscany the colossal bust, representing the Emperor Napoleon, by the celebrated Cunova. He desires the Grand Duke to accept it as a token of gratitude for the hospitality he has received in his States. To the Grand Duchess he bequeaths a beautiful vase of Porcelain de Sevres. To each of the four soeurs de ckarite of the hospital of St. Leu, in France, an annual pension of £4. To the poor of Civita Nova, £100. To several poor of Florence, several pensions. To his brother, Jerome Bonaparte, Prince of Montfort, his box at the theatre of Florence, a property valued at £2400. To his nephew, Napoleon, son of Prince de Montfort, a beautiful diamond, To his second nephew, Jerome, a souvenir of a similar kind. To Princess Mathilde Demidoffe, a parure in rubies and diamonds, left to him by his mother. To his nephew, Don Louis, son to Prince Canino, his beautiful Villa de Montughi, with furniture and adjacent lands, valued at £8000. To his ward, Francesco Castelvecchio, a sum of £6000. After making a few other legacies of less importance to all his servants and executors, he adds :-— " I bequeath the remainder of my property (my Palace at Florence, the great estate of Civita Nova, all real property), furniture, claims, and, in short, all that will form my property at the time of my death (except what has been bequeathed by me as above stated), to my heir Napoleon I Louis, my only surviving son, to whom I bequeath also, as a particular token of my paternal affection, my Dunkerque, placed in my library, with all the decorations and souvenirs lit contains : and as a still more particular mark of affection, I bequeath to him the different objects sent to me from St. Helena, which have belonged to the' Emperor Napoleon, and which are placed in a box made for that purpose,"--*-Florence, Dec^l, 1845. Anecdote of Ibrahim Pacha at Manchester* — An amusing incident occured when the Pacha was visiting a glass manufactory in Manchester. In the centre of one of the squares of the building stands a pump. Round this had congregated some twenty or thirty of the boys, some with bowls, others with tin cans or jugs. Amid this group, suddenly came the Pacha. Astonishment seized the whole of the juniors, and this was heightened by his taking from one of them a jug, filling it With water from the pump, and draining its contents to the very bottom ; his example was followed by his suite. Ibrahim Pacha is a Mahomedan, and as such, will not indulge in the use of wine. It is needless to say that the vessel from which they drank speedily rose in value — could not be had at any money, and has been cano .ised as a relic, under the title of" Ibrahim Pacha's jug." Royal Cigar Manufactory at Manilla. — Among the lions of the place, the royal cigar manufactories claim especial notice from their extent and the many persons employed. There are two of these establishments, one situated in the Binondo quarter, and the other on the great square or Prado ; in the former, which was visited by us, there are two buildings of two stories high, besides several storehouses, enclosed by a wall, with two large gateways, at which sentinels are always posted. The principal workshop is in the second story, which is divided into six apartments, in which eight thousand females are employed. Throughout the whole extent, tables are arranged, about sixteen inches high, ten feet long, and three feet wide, at each of which fifteen women are seated, having small 4 piles of tobacco before them* The tables are set crosswise from the wall, leaving a s,pace in the middle of the room free. The labour of a female produces about two hundred cigars a day ; and the working hours are from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a recess of two hours, from eleven to one o'clock. The whole establishment is kept very neat and clean, and everything appears to be carried on in the most systematic and workmanlike manner. Among such numbers, it has been found necessary to institute a search on their leaving the establishment to prevent embezzlement, and this is regularly made twice a day, without distinction of sex. It is a strange sight to witness the ingress and egress.of these hordes of fe- , males ; and probably the world- cannot elsewhere exhibit so large a number of ugly women. Their ages vary from fifteen to fortyfive. The sum paid them for wages is very trifling. The whole number of persons employed is about fifteen thousand ; this includes the officers, clerks, overseers, &c. As nearly as I could ascertain, the revenue derived from these establishments is half a million" of dollars.- 1 Wilkes's Exploring 'Ex-

pedition. University fob Manchester. — Within the last few weeks, property which it is conjectured may yield little less than .£lOO,OOO, has been bequeathed to found a university at

Manchester. To this gum it is expected that another £100,000 will be added by public -contribution.

■ Railway Revolutions. — Railways have already greatly advanced that change which was begun by our admirable, although now almost extinct, canal system, and our not less admirable and quite extinct coaching system. As they extend their iron arms, direct communication and interchange of mutual wants, of corn and timber, cucumbers and cabbages, for coal and calico, corduroy and guano, is becoming more and more the order of the day. All towns, all hamlets, even the remotest rural districts aspire to sharing the benefits of the untiring steam-horse; fishing villages claim to be ports, and secluded valleys proclaim the rich mineral treasures awaiting the modern Open Sesame of carriage at a penny a mile per ton. We must not check this progress, or permit any body of men by ' ambitious extravagance and selfishness, to check the wide interchange of home trade from which all manner of good may be anticipated. There was a time when a few country towns monopolised the whole inland trade of extensive districts, when a few ports received and sent forth all our foreign trade, and a tall column of profits stood between the producer and the consumer. Then the conveyance of merchandise was carried on by long strings of bell-bearing pack-horses, picking their cautious way over rough bridle roads, and here and there by broad wheeled waggons, moving on high ways-, even more solitary than they are now. By these expensive modes the wholesale dealer of the county metropolis, received cargoes once or twice a year of the various kinds of goods destined to supply his customers, the retailers of the country round, and the pedlars, who then conducted two-thirds of the provincial dry goods' trade. The roads to London were dreary and dangerous, consumptive of time and money. No shopkeeper thought of sending up to town for £10 worth of goods ; he drew from his neighbour the wholesale man, and he would no more have dreamed of going up to select his spring stock than of making a pilgrimage to Rome. Manchester, to half England, was a far-off place in the barbourous north. The, spinning- jenny was not, and calico was burdened with a heavy excise as a dangerous rival to our ancient woollen manufactures. Each county town was of itself a small metropolis. Licbfield, Chester, Warwick, and -other now decaying cities, we;e the sites to which the surrounding gentry and aristocracy resorted for their amusements in winter, and their purchases all the year round. When Sir Thos. Leathers required a stock of claret, new saddles, a beaver and bob wig, or Lady Leathers a supply of groceries, lace, satin, cambric, the latest fashion of hoops, and head-dresses, there was no railroad to whistle them up to Bond Street and back again within twenty-four hours ; so they proceeded along in full-blown state and dignity to the countytown in their coach-and-six, or chariot-and-four, and there laid in an ample supply of soap and sugar, tea, toys, feathers, and fans ; in fact, all that might be wanted for use or pleasure in the huge mansion of a Baronet of the old and nearly extinct sort. There were no express trains, no posting at twelve miles an hour, in those days ; no printed calicoes at threepence-half-penny a yard, no penny magazines, no penny posts, no penny a, mile carriages, no maid-servants in silk gowns, with parasols, no tea at three shillings, no white sugar at eightpence a pound. It was by the few at large profits, instead of the many at small, that money was made. Then, as the small capital sold to all the district of which it was the metropolis, so it bought from all that district. The carriage of agricultural produce and local manufactures was too expensive to tempt the owner past the first great city on the route. All this has passed away, never to return. Pack-horses and bridleroads, highways and broad-wheeled waggons, have been succeeded, first, by canals and horse-drawn barges ; last, by railroads and flying locomotives. The first effect of improved means of conveyance was to destroy the wholesale trade,, of these provincial capitals, year by year London became more and more the great warehouse of internal trade, so that all roads seemed to end there. — Sydney's Railway System Illustrated. The Bohemian Nobility. — The nobles of the Diet of, Bohemia have just come to a truly honourable decision. They have hitherto enjoyed the important privilege of exemption from one-fifth of the taxation imposed upon the landowners who are not noble. By a recent and almost unanimous vote they have surrendered this, privilege, and have requested the Emperor to employ the amount of the fifth which they will henceforward pay for the general good of the country. They have also solicited the Emperor to abolish lotteries in Bohemia. Ice at Lima. — Ice is a necessary of life in Lima, and is brought from the Cordilleras, a distance of 28 leagues. So essential in that ardent climate is this refreshment, that the

lack of it for a few days is sufficient to cause a notable ferment among the people ; and, in all revolutions, therefore, the leaders cautiously abstain from applying the mules used for its carriage to any other purpose. The Indians hew the ice out of the glaciers in lumps of six arrobas (150 pounds) each, and lower it from the mountaius by ropes. Other Indians receive and carry it a couple of miles to a depot, where it is packed upon mules. Two lumps form a mule load, and thirty of these loads are sent daily to Lima, where, by frequent relays, they arrive in 1 8 or 20 hours. During the journey the ice loses about the third of its weight, and what remains is just sufficient to supply the city for a day. Jt is chiefly used in making ices, composed for the most part of milk or pine apple juice. — Blackwood's Magazine.

Settlers in Texas. — When a fresh settler, to whom the idea of possessing landed property is altogether new, first finds some actual hundreds of acres within his reach and all his own, other minor matters never peep from out of the shade, and for the time being he becomes in fancy equal with some old feudal Baron, or the Peer of an English Lord, though without that title, which he can well afford to kick before him with scorn. But when he comes to gather his fancied flowers, the thorns remind him that they are there also ; and too frequently teach the hard and unpalatable lesson, that what ihe heart most seems to desire — liberty and one's own ground to tread upon — may be purchased too dearly. The pleasurable idea of felling wild cedar, and building one's house of scented wood, like the beams of Solomon's Temple of old, becomes worthless when the risks are that one may perhaps not live long enough either to finish or inhabit it. Alligators may be, as they are highly interesting and exciting reptiles to watch, and chase, and shoot at ; but , the loss of your dogs, dragged under water by them, or a long and delightful " spell" of in- , termittent fever, caught by wading into muddy . bayous to fetch them out, are drawbacks upon the gratification of curiosity and the hunting mania, which people are prone to think too ; lightly of until they are too completely in for them to be able to withdraw again. The certainly most delightful of all human field privileges — that of roaming savanna and forest as free as the very wind that blows across your face, with no man or tyrant law to arrest the crack of your rifle or the louder roar of your fowling piece, when the finest of fourfooted game or the most magnificent of birds comes within your reach — also loses some of the gloss which an English, and especially an English town bred imagination is apt to put upon it, when, from practical experience, it is found that even the most expert sportsman must make a perfect business of hunting if he expect to live upon wild game ; and that, to do so, he has time neither to raise a roof above his head, a fence around his settlement, or put a plough into his ground. To see wild speckled deer from your door is mighty attractive in a book, a letter, or a magazine ; it is also amazingly gratifying to see them fall before your weapon ; but the eating thereof is far less satisfactory, and the trouble usual upon success very much greater, than the object sought is worth, save only for the sake of recreation and sport. — Simmond's Colonial Magazine.

The Ladies o* Lima. — The fair.Limena rises at a late hour, dresses her hair with jasmine and orange-flowers, and waits for breakfast. After this, she receives her visitors and pays her visits. During the heat of the day her solace is a swing in her hammock, or a cigar. After dinner, she visits her friends ; and the day is concluded in the theatre, the great square, or on the bridge. But few ladies employ themselves in needlework or netting, though some are very expert in these arts. In society such work is never introduced — happy city, where we may meet with ladies not knitting stockings! * * TJhe pride with which the ladies of Lima cherish their tiny feet can hardly be, exaggerated. Whether they walk, or stand, or swing Jn the, hammock, or recline on the sofa, their principal care is to keep their pretty feet in view. No praise of their virtue, their intelligence, or even their beauty, will flatter them so sweetly as a commendation of their delicate feet. A great foot (patasa inglesa — " an English paw," as they say) is their horror. I once heard the praises of a fair European from some ladies in Lima ; but they ended wjth the, words, pero gui pie,! valgame Dios ! parece una lancha! " but what a foot! Heavens ! 'tis like a great boat !" — yet the. foot in question would have been reckoned of a moderate size in Europe. * * At a certain age the ladies.of Lima generally make a great change in their mode of life. Their bloom is gone, and they do, longer charm.; or, satiated with the pleasures of an unchastened life, they leave the world, devote themselves to religion, and become so-called "Beatas." They must attend church twice or thrice daily ; confess, at least, once in the week ; retire for penance during passion week ; send delicate luxuries

to their confessor, or a calash to carry him when he is not disposed to walk ; and in many other ways expose their sanctity as a spectacle. This seeming piety, far removed from every thing like a sincere devotion, is so much more disgusting as it is generally .accompanied by a bitter and uncharitable humour. These devout ladies, having renounced all other pleasures, enjoy the more keenly the luxury of scandal — and turn their venomed stings against their neighbours ; so that the ," Beatas" may be reckoned" the most dangerous class of society in Lima. — Sketches of Travels — Lima. American Cotton. — Some improvements are reported to have been carried into effect in the United States for better baling and compressing, by which the charges of freight are considerably reduced. The chief features of the new method adopted are, that the bales are packed square instead of round, and compressed by hydraulic process instead of by steam. In this square shape, the bale stows more conveniently, and with a greater economy of space. Thus, an example is cited of the ship Francis Ann, of 446 tons burden, which cleared out from Savannah on the 3d of June for Venice, freighted with 1925 bales of cotton, weighing 762,800 pounds hydraulic compressed. The last cargoful she carried with the same destination consisted of only 1453 bales of uncompressed cotton : difference, therefore, 472 bales less, or 2000 dollars in freight alone. The preference is, therefore, given to the hydraulic pressed cotton by exporting merchants, when even of the same quality, and some increase of price demanded. The planters, it is said, who have adopted this improved plan of baling and compressing, have the advantage of obtaining from to J a cent, per pound more for their cotton than those who adhere to the old round uncompressed bale system. Upland cotton in round bales can no longer be sold, it is said, to the same advantage in the mote important markets. 1 American Steamers on the Oronoco. — We have just conversed with a gentleman of this city who has recently received a letter from Colonel J. P. Adams, United States consul at Laguayra, Venezuela, giving an account of an enterprise of great importance, about to be entered into in that country, of which we are permitted to give the following particulars. It seems that during the last year, the government of that Republic advertised in the papers at Caracas, proposing to grant the exclusive privilege of navigating the River Oronoco with steamers, to such persons or company as would stipulate to put steamers in operation there within a given time. The notice attracted the attention of Vespasian Ellis, Esq., then Charge d' Affaires of the United States at Caracas, and he investigated the subject, and became convinced that such a grant would be immensely valuable, and immediately communicated his willingness to engage in the enterprise, if liberal terms should be conceded in the proposed grant. He was at once given to understand that the grant would be made to him, and on such terms as should be fixed on by himself and commissioners appointed by the Government. Commissioners have been recently empowered in due form to make the contract with Mr. Ellis, who, through his agent at Caracas, has obtained the grant since his return to the United States. It -is stated that the grant is exclusive for 22 years to Mr. Ellis and his assigns, and he has the privilege of firewood and timber from the Government landa bordering on the river during the whole term. The boats, machinery, and otlnr property engaged in the navigation, are to be free from all taxes or contributions to the Government, and an ample guarantee is given for the protection of the said property. Eighteen months are allowed Mr. Ellis to fulfil his stipulations. We are informed that it is. the plan of Mr. Ellis to form a company, with a capital of some 300,000 dols., to send two or three steamers to Angostura, for the purpose of qavigating the Oronoco and branches, and to form a commercial connexion with New Orleans, by means of three or four large schooners, to run from this port to Angostura. — New Orleans Tropic.