ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 183, 1 May 1847, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

A visit from the Hey of Tunis to France and England is announced. The fact of a Mussulman sovereign leaving his own states to visit Europe with a view of instructing himself, is almost without parallel in Oriental history. In an article on " Military Glory,,' Chambers's Journal shows, on the authority of Court St. Marie, that France has sacrificed in. Algeria a hundred men and upwards of 27,000 francs per day, for the last fifteen years. The proprietors of the G'obe and Traveller have unanimously voted a haudsome piece of plate to Thos. Chapman, Esq., as a tribute of respect to that gentleman on his retirement from its successful direction, as managing proprietor, for a period of 20 years. Mr. Chapman has been connected as proprietor with the metropolitan journals during the last 52 years ; and may be termed the father of the London press, having attained, with good health anJ spirit*, the age of 83 on the 12th of October. — Globe. Ibrahim Pasha has sent two of his sons to England to be educated. They are placed under the care of the president of the Pestalozzian'School, at Worksop. Honour to the Fair Sex ! — At the risk of vexing some who would not have their good deeds brought too prominently forward, we cannot avoid making honourable mention of the remarkable perseverance and devotion of the daughters of Generel Simcoe, who distinguished himself in the American war. These ladies, on the ruins of the old Abbey of Dunkswell, near Honiton, have erected a church, for which they worked all the stone with their own bands. A. large drawing-room, commenced by the General, and not finished, served for the atelier. We have a worthy companion for these ladi >s, whose names we mention with all due respect, in Miss Rickards, of Stow Langtoft, Bury, who has, with her one hands as we hear, glazed all the windows in her father's church with stained glass, painted and burnt by herself! — Ihe Builder. Napoleon, after having observed to Madame Campau that the old system of children's education was bad, inquired what she considered wantiug to make it good. " Mothers," was the reply. As women are the first, and, perhaps, the most influential teachers, we must have good mothers, if we would secure good teachers. With them rests the tuition of the heart, so much more importants than that of the head. Sentiment precedes intelligence : and it has been well observed be the authoress of a deservedly popular work, that the earliest smile which responds to the maternal caress is the first lesson in the affections. Mothers were meant by nature to inspire virtue, even when they do not directly seek to teach it, and they will rarely go wrong when they follow their parental impulses. — Colburn's Magazine.

Increased Consumption of Milk. — The farmers in Cheshire and Lancashire have nearly discontinued making cheese and butter, in conseqnence of the increased demand for milk, which is attributed to the increased consumption of rice, Indian meal, and oatmeal, owing to the scarcity of potatoes. — Liverpool '1 imes. The Mexican aloe, which recently flowered at the Colosseum, has now growing upon it thousands of younj2 plants, each flower having produced a plant. In this particular it is said to differ from every species of aloe before known in England. At a recent meeting to establish a Juvenile Refuge in Manchester, the Archbishop of Dublin said, (hey could educate fifty children at the same cost that they could keep one soldier. In Scotland alone, from January 1845 to January 18-16, sixteen editions of the Bible were printed, consisting of 312,000 copies. On Sunday affernoon, during the time the private gardens and the eastern terrace at Windsor were open to the public, Lord J. Russell, one of her Majesty's guests, walked from the terrace, and was proceeding across the grass in the Home Park towards the iron gates opposite to the Long Walk, a portion of the Royal domains from which the public are excluded. His lordship had proceeded some distance before he was noticed by one of the Castle policemen, who no sooner saw a stranger, as he supposed, on forbidden ground, and not knowing who it was, sang out with Stentorian voice, " Holloo, you Sir ! come back and get off the grass ! Come back you Sir !" Lord John immediately got off the grass, and returned back towards the York and Lancaster Towers. By the time his lordship had got to within some 30 or 40 paces of the policeman the officer found out his mistake, having been informed that the offending party was a person in the suite of some of her Majesty's visitors. He then called out to Lord John (who had evidently been taken by surprise), " You may go on, you are all right enough I His lordship, smiling at the bystanders, then retraced his steps, and pursued his walk across the park toward the avenue of trees leading to Waterloo gate. — Guardian, October 7.

Infant Schools. — Thirty infant schools, in connection with the Church of England, are being erected in Birmingham.

The first Quaker Barrister. — Mr. Peat, who was lately called to the Irish bar, has thrown a shell among the bigwigs of Ihe Four Courts, by adoptiug the phrase " May it please the Court," instead of "May it please your lordships." The convict Barber, we understand, is about to receive a free pardon, on condition of not returning to England. — Patriot. The practice of buying and selling by the electric telegraph in the United States is \ery common. Persons residing five or six hundred miles from a market, can ascertain in ten minutes theprices of various commodities, and make this novel invention the means of effecting sales or purchases, as occasion may require. The charge for telegraphic communications in America is considerably less than in this country, consequently more resorted to, especially by the commercial classes. A new Hungarian dance called the Csordor is all the rage in Germany, and likely to supersede the Polka. The Welshman states that Father Mathew is of a very ancient Welsh family, the records of the Principality showing he is descended from Gwaythvoed, King of Cardigan. Arrangements are making for an extensive establishment to cure and preserve meat at Monte Video. The cheapness of the South American cattle is the inducement. Sir Henry Pottinger, the new Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, left London in the early part of December for Southampton, to embark for the seat of his administration. Mr. Winterhalter, the German artist, is engaged in painting, by command of the Queen, a large " family picture" of her Majesty, the Prince Consort, and the whole of the juvenile members of the Royal Family. An appropriate apartment in the Castle has been assigned as his studio. The following extract appears in a Clonmel paper of the 29th November :—": — " Since the 3rd of last month we understand that only 1,138 stand of arms have been disposed of in Clonmel. The trade, it will be seen, is brisk, and the prices moderate. A man can procure a very handy gun for 18s. The • Fowlers' on Sunday last, were most industrious ; from day dawn they fired away, and scarcely five minutes elapsed without a bang. Prospects are cheering." One sorrowful question~presents itself upon a perusal of such ominous announcements. What are the arms required for ? Time can only reply. The Irish landlords are, generally speaking, doing all in their power to allay the existing ferment. At an influential meeting, held in Bandon, the noble chairman (Lord Dunraven) uttered

- the following sentiments, which have heen s re-echoed by the influential portion of the , London press :—": — " I think, we ought to put r forward strong resolutions calling on Govern- - raent to do something effectual towards reliev- , ing the present distress ; for really I must / say, and I wish to avoid speaking strongly, Government is awfully responsible at the pre1 sent time for not acting as they ought when t called upon by a large majority of the people, t either to have Parliament called together, or I to legislate effectually for the relief of the peoJ pie. (Hear, hear.) We must protest against their apparently making a concession, which is i virtually a dead letter ; and I trust all parties f in the country will unite in effecting something i to ameliorate the present lamentable condition ; of Ireland. I hold in my hand a letter from a clergyman living in the west division of > West Carbery, where he says there is at present ! over £500 due in money to this parish. He writes to me — ' Could you, by any interfe- , rence, procure for us that our poor creatures . may be paid their amounts, now amounting to nearly £500 in money ? In this parish the misery is beyond describing ; there being not far short of 1000 distressed creatures entreating to be employed, but without effect." During the general distress and despondency, Dublin was the theatre of another, though dj^Swent scene of agitation, and thire two partieshave set themselves up arrayed against each other in an aigumentative campaign. Weallurle to the "old" and "young" Ireland parties, or as they are now stiled, the "associated" and "unassociated" repealers. O'Connell still denounces the " young men" as traitors, and their organ the Nation, as the "barrel organ." But notwithstanding the anathemas of the Liberator, the "juniors" were daily increasing in numbers, and on the evening of the 2nd December no less than two thousand assembled at the Rotunda, and adopted a series of resolutions pledging themselves to adhere to the repeal cause. From the tenor of the speeches delivered, it would appear that this section of repealers was resolved to adopt some decisive line of policy in the month of January, which would be in all probability to array themselves under the leadership of Mr. Smith OBrien, and to co-operate with the parent association ; but in a manner totally disconnected.

HOW TO GET ON IN THE WORLD. The late Mr. Tegg, the well-known publisher, on being asked to what he chiefly owed his success in life, replied, "To three things : punctuality as to time, self-reliance, and integrity in word and deed. In addition, however, to these points," said he, " I have derived much advantage and comfort in life from being deaf as well as blind, to all calumnies and attacks. I have never cared for what any one malignantly or, perhaps, foolishly said of me ; neither have I been ready to resent real or imaginary affronts."

France. — The Paris papers comment on the manifesto of the physical force republicans published in the National a few days previously, and it is satisfactory to find that the physical force doctrine is repudiated by all influential parties in France, as it is by all influential parties in England. The Liberals of all countries are now perfectly convinced that it is by moral force, and moral force alone, that oppression can be successfully combated, and I that aggressive physical force is the distinguishing characteristic of tyranny, to the establishment of which it enevitably tends, whether used by autocrat despots in the name of what they miscall " order," or by physical force democratic tyrants in the name of what they equally miscall "liberty." — Pictorial Times, Dec. 5. Rumours of an impending change of ministry in France were in circulation in Paris on Monday. The King, it was said, pressed the departure of Count St. Aulaire for London, hoping that, through his instrumentality, the British government would accept an apology for (he Montpensier marriage, and make common cause with France in an effort to rescue Cracow from its " protectors." On the' other hand, letters received from London were said to have expressed as " decided a disapprobation" of his Majesty's conduct in the mairiage affair " as at any moment since his successful practice upon a faithful and too-confiding ally." King Leopold's refusal to interfere in the matter was known to be the reason why King Louis Phillippe was so desirous that Count St. Aulaire should repair to London without delay. It began to be rumom'ed that the King might not long continue to regard M. Guizot as having acted wisely in the measures that brought about the union of the Duke de Montpensier with the Spanish Infanta. It was even said that Count Mole was prepared, on entering upon office, to stipulate that the Duke de Montpensier should renounce all claim for himself and his descendents upon the crown of Spain. " Until that be done," says one of our letters, "we can hardly hope for the renewal of a good understanding between France and England." It was stated in late New York papers, that the wheat grown in the United States last season, exceeds the previbus crop by thirteen

million quarters, a quantity equal to two-thirds the average annual consumption of wheat in Great Britain and Ireland, according to M'Culloch. This fact our correspondent adds had already acted on the price of grain in England, depressing it by at least eighteen per cent. The news from Mexico is of some import. Santa Anna had seized upon 2,000,000 dollars then en route to Tampico for shipment to England : and a revolutionary attempt to overturn the existing government of Mexico had been made in the capital by parties favourable to the annexation of the republic. The source whence this important intelligence was derived was stated to be a private letter ; but despatches received from Liverpool announce that the document as published by the Times was received at Boston, Ly telegraph from New York immediately before the departure of the mail steamer. The government mail agent on board the Britannia alone brought a copy of the announcement to Liverpool. - An Adventure with a Wild Cat. — I do not know a more harsh and unpleasant cry than that of the wild cat, or one more likely to be the origin of superstitious fears in the mind of an ignorant Highlander. These animals have great skill in finding their prey, and the damage they do to the game must be very great, owing to the quantity of food they require. When caught in a trap, they fl» without hesitation at any person who approaches them, not waiting to be assailed. I have heard many stories of their attacking and severely wounding a man, when their escape has been cut off. Indeed, a wild cat once flew at me, in the most determined manner. I was fishing in a river in Sutherlandshire, and, passing from one pool to another, had to climb over some rock & broken kind of ground. In doing so, I sank through some rotten heather and moss up to my knees, almost upon a wild cat, which was concealed under it. I was quite as much startled as the animal herself could be, when I saw the wild-looking beast so unexpectedly rush out from between my feet, with every hair on her body standing on end, making her look twice as large as she really was. I had three small Sky terriers with me, who immediately gave chase, and pursued her till she took refuge in a corner of the rocks, where, perched in a kind of recess out of the reach of her enemies, she stood with her hair bristled out, and spitting and growling like a common cat. Having no weapon with me, I laid down my rod, cut a good-sized stick, and proceeded to dislodge her. As soon as I was within six or seven feet of the place, she sprung straight at my face over the dogs' heads. Had I not struck her in mid air as she leaped at me, I should probably have got some severe wound. As it was she fell with her back half-broken amongst the dogs, who with my assistance despatched her. I never saw an animal fight so desperately, or one which was so difficult to kill. If a tame cat has nine lives, a wild cat must have a dozen. — Wild Sports in the Highlands.