ENGLISH NEWS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 168, 10 March 1847, Page 3

ENGLISH NEWS.

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland has taken a most decided step to meet the exigencies of the crisis. Trusting to a bill of indemnity, his Excellency has authorised the construction of works of a productive character and permanent utility, including drainage, by presentment under the Labour-rate Act. Lady Rose Somerset, fourth daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, who only completed her 17th year in February last, eloped from Badminton, her parents' seat, for the purpose of being married to Captain Lovell, of the Ist Life Guards. The objection to the marriage was the extreme youth of Lady Rose. Among the presents sent by the King of the French to the Queen of Spain, on the ocsasion of her marriage, is said to be a splendid carpet, of the Gobeliu manufacture, which has employed the workmen several years. Prince Don John, a son of Don Carlos, and who is 24 years of age, is to marry the Archduchess Maria, of Este, who is 22 years of age, and very rich. It was generally reported on the Paris Bourse, that Mr. Bulwer was to leave Madrid during the celebration of the marriage festivities. Sir W. Verner has been restored to the Lieutenancy of Tyrone ; and the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland has approved of the appointment of Mr. John O'Connell to the Deputy Lieutenancy of the county of Kerry. The following promotions are gazetted for the 9Cth Foot : — Lieutenant Francis James Hugonin, to be Captain, by purchase, vice Butler, who retires ; Ensign John William Lloyd, to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Hugonin ; Octavius Lowry, gent., to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Lloyd. An extraordinary express brought the following from Paris : — The Courier Francais, states, it was reported in Malaga that Abd-el-Kader had dethroned the Emperor of Morocco, and that Lord Normanby delivered to Monsieur Guizot on Monday, a copy of the second protest delivered by Mr, Bulwer to the Spanish Cabinet. Also the French Rentes fell on a report of the recall of Mr. Bulwer, and Lord Normanby not dining with the King of the French to-day, being the 74th anniversary of his Majesty's birthday. The French Princes reached Burgos, on their way to Madrid, on the evening of the 4th. — Daily News, Oct. 8. The cost of laying down the electric telegraph in England is about £73 per mile, while the average cost upon the continent is about £100. It is already in constant operation along 950 miles of the English railways. In the United States it is laid down for a distance of 1,660 miles. Arrangements are making to adopt this magic means of communication in France, Belgium, and' in Germany. On the continent, where the electric telegraph is at work, it is under the sole control of Government, while in England it is at the disposal of the public generally. Accounts had been received of a series of most deplorable disasters to the emigrant ship Elizabeth and Sarah, while on her outward passage to North America, with 300 Irish emigrants. She was stranded on the Island of St. Peter's, south of Newfoundland, but got off with d.fficulty ; when, upon her arrival at Basque Island, she had a frightful fever raging on board, to which the captain, Mr. Simpson, and twenty-three passengers had fallen a sacrifice. There were no less than five fires in different parts of the metropolis on the last night in September. The amount of damage appears to be considerable. A railway-labourer at Tunbridge Wells, having obtained some blasting-powder for a relative, placed it loose in the pocket of his

frock. -He struck a match against the wall to light his pipe, and the powder exploded ; the wooden house in which he was standing was blown nearly asunder ; the man himself was dreadfully burnt, and a little brother was much hurt. One of the parties who originated Punch was before the Bankruptcy Court, when he estimated the profits of that publication at £10,000 a-year. The registered boatmen in Constantinople and its immediate suburbs number about 19,000, wi»h about 16,000 boats. Diamonds are stated to have been recently discovered in Rutherford county, North Carolina. Count Sternberg, the celebrated German geologist, has ordered in his last will, that his body shall be enclosed in the hollowed-out trunk of one of those gigantic antediluvian palm-trees, which have assumed the hardness of the most compact sandstone. We are not aware whether his desire has already been carried into effect. The narrow slip of ground called the Burlington Arcade, in Piccadilly, containing se-venty-two houses, produces an annual rental of £8640. On Monday, 21st September last, much interest was excited in this city by the arrival of two monster trains, bringing no less than 4000 Sunday school children and 500 teachers and friends from Bristol. About halfpast six o'clock they started for Bristol in one enormous train, consisting of fifty-eight carriages, drawn and propelled by seven engines. — Ghucetter Journal. Captain Richardson, committed for extensive forgery, had escapeJ, the Grand Jury having ignored the bill, through the absence of one, out of thirty witnesses. The Captain retains the £3,225 taken from his person. The Pope Turned Protestant. — Letters of the Ist instant, from Rome, state that the excitement caused by the amnesty had subsided, both in the capital and in the provinces, owing chiefly to the recommendation of the Pope, and the measures taken by the authorities to moderate the universal joy. A strong feeling of gratitude is, however, implanted among the people at large ; and, though reforms are anxiously wished for, full time will be allowed to tlie Pontiff, and his popular minister, Cardinal Gizzi, for carrying them into execution. The Pope lately said, "My people may expect justice and mercy from me, for my only guide is this book," laying his hand on the New Testament. The new Pope has privileged an AngloRoman Company to intersect the Roman States with railways — a curious and interesting episode to the benefits reciprocally conferred by the Romans of old, in intersecting our own country with roads and aqueducts. — 1 he Builder. On Sunday we had the gratification of seeing ten persons publicly renounce the errors of popery in St. Audeon's Church. Three of the converts were educated for the Romish. Priesthood ; but they have now abandoned for ever the idea of taking on them that yoke, and embraced the doctrines of Jesus Christ. One of the converts had been a priest's clerk for upwards of thirty years, and is deeply versed in the mysteries of the profession he has left. All the converts received the Lord's Supper, and signed the renunciation roll in the usual way. — Dublin Warder. On St. Bartholemew's day divine service was held in the Church, Shoreham, as usual, when a young lady, who had become a convert, renounced the peculiarities of the Socie- { ty of Friends, and was publicly admitted as a member of the Church of England. Scarcity. — The reports that daily arrive L from the weak extremities of the empire make it too probable that we shall soon have to deal with a substantial calamity, compared with which last year's visitation was only the warning and sha low. The letters and extracts from the Irish press, show how deeply the delusion of some great Legislative panacea has taken possession of the Irish mind. The State! the State is to do every thing. The labourer asks the State for national employment and national food ; the landlord, with equal importunity, demands a national loan. Does the State attempt this in England ? But can the State anywhere make either employment, or food, or money ? It cannot. It is true it may make the attempt, but it is certain to fail. It can only succeed in exercising a slight regulation power over these things when it is so fortunate as to find them ready to its hands. There is a universality in the present disaster which immensely simplifies its consideration. The case is just this, that the whole labouring population of the islands, from Kent to Tipperary, from Dorsetshire up to the Highlands and the Western Isles, have lost a great part |of their winter stores. It must be remembered that the English, the Scotch, and the Irish peasant are*' exactly in the same evil plight. The Irishman is destitute, so is the Scotchman, and so is the Englishman. InEngI land it is no unusual circumstance for even a i prosperous labourer to find himself at the end

of the harvest with absolutely nothing in the world besides the clothes on his back, a good master, and credit at the shop. It is no unusual thing for a more average class of labourers to find themselves climbing the bleak hill side of winter with nothing, not even credit or a master. The nation is not convulsed, Cabinets do not meet early, Parliaments are not summoned in a hurry, suspended by Ministerial changes, and protracted into autumn, by events of this ordinary character. Ireland and the Highlands are now in the very same case, and the empire at its wit's end for remedy. "What, then, is the difference ? Why is that so terrible in Ireland which in England does not create perplexity, and hardly moves compassion ? — Times, Beet root cannot be too much recommended to the notice of mankind as a cheap and salubrious substitute for the now failing and diseased potato. Hitherto the red kind has been only used in England as a pickle, or as a garnish for salad ; even the few who dress it generally boil it, by which process the rich saccharine juice is in a great measure lost, and the root consequently rendered less nutritious by the quantity of water which it imbibes, as well as by parting with the native syrup of which it is thus forcibly deprived ; it is therefore strongly recommended to bake instead of boiling them, when they will be found to afford a delicious and wholesome food. This is not an untried novelty, for •bolh red and white beet-root are extensively used on the continent ; in Italy particularly, they are carried about hot from the oven twice a' day, and sold publicly in the streets, thus they are purchased by all classes of people, and give to thousands, with bread, salt, pepper, and butter, a satisfactory meal. There are few purposes for which baked, or even roasted, or fried beet-root would not be found preferable to boiled. If these roots were as universally cultivated in England for human food as they are on the continent of Europe, and baked and sold as cheap as they might easily be, many a poor person would have a hearty and good meal who is now often obliged to go without one ; and now that the potato crop is again failing, the above information cannot but be of infinite service if generally known, for there is a good deal of beet in the country, although planted or sown for the use of cattle. — Carmarthen Journal.

Probable Sub-Marine Volcano. — The ship Helena on her late passage from Batavia to Canton, when in latitude 16 N., longitude 125 E., fell in with immense fields of floating pumice stones, apparently not having been long erupted, as samples that were picked vp a were perfectly clear of slime or grass, which would not have been the case had they been long afloat. Many pieces were as large as a common bucket. The nearest land to the windward was the Mariannes or Ladrone Islands, about one thousand miles off. It seems impossible that it could have come from thence, nor could it have come from Luconia, dead to windward.

Like Master like Man. — Colonel Dickson, when be commanded the 42nd regiment, was one day superintending the punishment of an old soldier, who had been sentenced to corporal punishment in consequence of t eing, as he said, a wee/ou. The man complained much under the infliction, and begged frequently to be taken down ; but the Colonel showed no disposition to remit any part of the sentence. "Oh, Colonel," exclaimed the culprit, making another appeal to his commander's humanity, "take me down, Colonel ; for ye ken, I'm just a puir drucken body -LIKE yoursel." The justice of this remark was universally admitted, and military discipline could hardly restrain the risible faculties -of officers and men. — Marshall on the condition of Soldiers.

A New School. — Mr. Dinnis O'Brien, •son to the famous Darby O'Brien, who wint •by the name of the Wonder of the World on •account of his grate laming, will open a school •on Monday nixt, in Tim. Doyle's the Nailor's till he can get a plaice of greater convenience. — He taiches the following sientiffic branches •of Eddycation — viz — That is to say — Addition, abstraction, multiplication ; and the Rule of 3 — Note a bene — Dozent taich Fracktions, for they only bother they bxanes and are no use what-sum-ever. Paddy Breen, from the ■county of Clare, purtends he knows all there things. But don't believe him for he can hardly tell how many banes make s—Tarms,5 — Tarms, a penny a week to bring every Monday with 4 mud turf, but the rule of 3 lads must pay 3 haypense — but as the school will not be kep in the forge there is no feer of the schollais Beeing burnt with the sparks. — Given under my hand in this year of our Lord 1838. Dinnis O'Brien. God Save the Queen. And Lord Mulgrave. [A manuscript, which is said to be the original of this very original announcement was shown to us a few days ago.] — Liverpool Mercury.

Life in the Peairie. — In one of my transatlantic voyages in a steamer, I met with

a very singular man, a German by birth, who was on his return from Europe to America. He was about thirty years of age, of a rather small but active and wiry frame, his features very handsome, of a chiselled and distinct outline : his bright black eye never met yours, but watched as you looked away, with penetrating keenness : the expression of his mouth was wild and somewhat sensual, with two perfect rows of large teeth, white as ivory ; his hair was black, worn long behind ; complexion fresh and ruddy, but swarthed over by sun and wind. He was never still, but kept perpetually moving to and fro, even when seated, with the restlessness of a savage animal, always glancing around and behind as though he expected, but did not fear, some hidden foe. His voice was soft and' rather pleasing, very low, but as if suppressed with effort. This strange being had been educated in a German university, and was very well informed; the European languages were all equally familiar to him ; he spoke them all well, but none perfectly, not even German ; in several Indian tongues he was more at home. When still young he had left his country, struggling out from the down-tram-pled masses of the north of Europe, he went to seek liberty in America. But even there the restraints of law were too severe ; so he went away for the Far West, where his passion for freedom might find vent. Hunting and trapping for some months on the upper branches of the Missouri, he acquired money and influence enough to collect a few Indians and mules, and drive a dangerous but profitable trade with the savage tribes round about. In course of time his commerce prospered sufficiently to enable him to assemble twentyfour men, hunters, Canadian voyagers, and Indians, well armed with rifles, with many mules and waggons laden with the handiwork of the older states. He started with his company in the beginning of April for the Rocky Mountains, from Independence — the last Western town, originally settled by the Mormons, four miles from the Missouri River. They travelled from twelve to fifteen miles a day through the " Bush" and over the Prairies, and were soon beyond the lands of friendly or even neutral tribes, among the haunts of treacherous and warlike Blackfeet. By day and night the party was ever on tbe watch ; though they rarely saw them, they knew that enemies were all around. The moment there was any apparent carelessness or irregularity j in their march, they were attacked with horrible whoop and yell : if there was sufficient time, they ranged their waggons round, and used them as rests for their rifles, and for protection from the bullets and arrows of the Indians. Once they were suddenly surrounded by a more than usually numerous and determined body, alfwell mounted ; there was no time to form their accustomed defence ; so each man fell on his face ; the bowie knife, stuck in the ground, gave him in its handle a rest for its aim, and the hunter of the Prairie seldom shoots in vain ; but when he fired he turned on his back to reload, thus always exposing the smallest possible surface to the unskilful eye of the Blackfoot marksman. Many of the assailants were slain, and the survivors attacked openly no more. These travellers carried no tents, sought no shelter ; wrapped in their blankets, they braved the wind, dew, and rain ; their rifles gave them abundance of buffalo, deer, and mountain sheep ; and they sometimes had the luxury of wild potatoes, roots, and nuts. They did not burthen themselves by taking with them spirits, salt, flour, food, or luxury of any kind ; for their horses there were rich and plentiful grasses. Sometimes, but that very rarely happened, they ate their beasts of burthen, when the chase had been for a long period unsuccessful ; fuel was not always to be had, and then they were fain to devour their meat raw. There is one great salt prairie, where some white men lost their way, fainted, and died of thirst. Occasionally these adventurers had lack of water ; but when they had got five hundred miles on, and into the Rocky Mountains, they found abundance, with many mineral springs, some of them of rare virtues, and a few salt lakes. The peaks of this grim range are here ten thousand feet high, always white with snow ; but the company, keeping in the gorges and the valleys, felt no great cold at any time. They steered their course by the compass through the wilderness. Besides the Blackfeet, they had fierce but seldom unprovoked enemies, in the huge grizzly bears. Some of the hunters were dainty in their food, and liked the flesh of this monster, and they were very vain of his spoils, the rich fur and the terrible claws : he can run very fast, and may be struck by many a bullet before he drops and yields ; he knows no fear, and never declines the combat when offered ; if he once gets within reach to grasp, the hunter must perish ; but, somehow, these white men, weak in body, strong in mind, in the end crush alike the stalwart and active Indian and the , fierce and grizzly bear. For five hundred miles more, their way lay through these Rocky Mountains ; for six hundred beyond

them, they still steered for the north-west, till they struck on the upper forks of the Colombia river. Here they met with more friendly natives, and some of a race mixed with French Canadian blood, besides a few lonely hunters and trappers. Here, and further on, they traded, and got great quantities of rich and valuable furs, in exchange for their blankets, knives, guns, and other products of civilisation. The burning of the Prairies is one of the dangers and hardships to which these traders are exposed. In the autumn the tall rich grasses dry up and wither ; the slightest spark of fire suffices to set them alight, and then, whichever way the wind may carry it, the flame only ends with the mountain, the lake, or the river. The heat is but for a few moments, as the blaze sweeps by, but it leaves no living thing behind it, and the smoke is dense and acrid. When the fire approaches no man mounts his horse and trusts to its speed ; that would be in vain : but they fire the Prairie to leeward, and follow the course of the burning, till enough desolation lies between them and their ravenous pursuer to starve it into tameness. The German once found the blackened tract of the fire for nine hundred miles, and could only obtain scanty grazing for his cattle by the borders of the lakes and rivers on his route. In the year 1844 he was delayed much beyond his usual time in collecting mules sufficient for his expedition, and could not start for Santa Fe till the end of September. There is a low, hollow country, many miles in extent, about fifty days journey on their road ; it is covered with gravel, sand, and stone ; there is no hill, rock, or shelter of any kind ; it supports no animal or vegetable life, for a strong withering wind sweeps over it, summer and winter. The adventurers have named this hideous place — probably from the wind — the Simoom. Great caution is always taken to pass it before winter begins ; this year they were late, and the rigour of the season set in very early ; and, when they were well advanced into the danger, a thick snow-storm fell. There was no track ; the cattle moved painfully ; they were without fuel, and the stock of forage was soon exhausted. Many animals dropped by the way ; and, in one night, a hundred and sixty mules died from cold, weariness, and hunger. Then the hunters, who had faced many great dangers and hardships before, became appalled : for the snow still fell heavily, and the way was far and dark before them. The next morning they consulted together, and agreed to abandon the convoy and hasten back to save their lives. An old hunter, who had served long and faithfully, and was known to be much esteemed by their leader, was chosen to state this determination to him. The delegate came forward, and, in a quiet but determined Way, declared the mutiny. As he spoke the German shot him dead : the rest returned to their duty. Leaving orders with his company to remain where they were, the leader, escorted by two Indians, rode back to the settlements ; they had but little food with them ; the journey was seven hundred miles, and they had to cross many rapid, swollen streams, but he arrived safely, procured supplies, returned to his people, and, after a prosperous expedition, they all came back in safety. His narrative of these events was as free from bravado as it was from the expression of human feeling or remorse. The adventurer, being now wealthy, went to Europe, with the intention of settling, or at least spending some time with his friends in Germany. He remained in London for a month, where he met some connections who treated him with kindness. But the bond of society proved intolerable to him ; he gave up his plan of going home, and once again turned to seek the wild but fascinating life of the Prairie. This strange man was thoroughly well informed on all the political and social conditions of the nations of the earth, in their poetry, philosophy, and even their novels. He had read and thought much ; with an anxious effort to overcome the love of savage life, he felt deeply the evil of yielding to its influence, but succumbed. By this time he is again in the deep gorges of the Rocky Mountains, or chasing the buffalo on the Prairies of the West. — England in the New World.