LATEST ENGLISH NEWS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 235, 30 October 1847, Page 2

LATEST ENGLISH NEWS.

The Queen and Royal Family were - all * well. The Duchess of Kent had proceeded on a visit to her relations on the continent, and the Queen Dowager was making arrangements to proceed to Madeira for the benefit of the climate. There had been no marked change in com- - mercial affairs. The prospects of the harvest 1 still continued favourable. The wool sales had commenced ; former prices had not be,en maintained ; the reduction is variously stated at from a penny to twopence. Emigration was being gradually forced on the Government. Lord Monteagle had. obtained a committee of the House of Lords to enquire into the subject, as a mode of relief for Ireland. The session of Parliament was drawing to a close ; no day had been named for the prorog.uion, but it was expected to take, place early in July, and the dissolution would be immediately afterwards. The papers are filled with electioneering movements, but it.,would appear from the reports that the greater number of the contests will 'be. decided upon " points of merely local importance. The Peninsular and Oriental Company aremaking arrangements to extend a line of; steamers to Sydney. The Directors admit, that they have been forced into this measure , earlier than they anticipated by the promise made by the Government to grant a charter to a new Company. „,' ..] The immense importations of food into „ Ireland had checked the famine, but fexer to a fearful extent was raging through the - country and attacking all classes : upwards of five thousand had died in Cork alone. Being infectious, it is supposed that the fever is communicated to the upper classes by medical men and clergymen, who are brought into contact with the dying poor; it had- also reached some of the large towns in England,, particularly Manchester and Leeds. ■ - , Sir George Arthur had been appointed a - member of the Privy Council.

Her Majesty's Visit to Cambridge.-— a The Eastern Counties Company are fitting up a very handsome carriage, in which Her Majesty and Prince Albert will trawl on Mon*

day, July stb, on tie occasion of the Royal ▼iiit to Cambridge, to witness the inauguration of the Prince as Chancellor. The Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal are expected to, accompany their Royal parents, and will, we are informed, be the guests of Dr. and Mm. Graham, at Christ's College Lodge. According- to present arrangements, her Majeity and the Prince will honour the ViceChancellor (Dr. Philpott) by dining with him «t Catherine Hall on the Monday evening ; .and/her Maje&ty will hold a drawing-room at Trinity Lodge on the same evening. On Tuesday morning the installation of His Royal Highness will take place at the Senate house ; and subsequently there will be a splendid/cite in the beautiful grounds of Magdalen College, given by the Hon. and Rev. the Master (Neville Greuville) who has recently been appointed the Dean of Windsor. Subsequently the Prince, and it is to be hoped her Majesty, if the fatigue be not too great, wiH.visiOhe;, Horticultural f€te in Downing gntontifcl "the" arrangements for this show are" proceeding with.great spirit; the competition is to be open to all .England, and the sum to be distributed in prizes is upwards of £200, in sums of £10 downwards. In the evening of Tuesday, the Royal party will dine with Professor and Mrs. Whewell, at Trinity Lodge, and afterwards proceed to the concert in the Senate house. On Wednesday, her Majesty and suite will take their departure. Such are the arrangements so far as we have at present beard. A contemporary states, that the Duke of Wellington will be present ; but this is as ye;, we believe, a matter ol some doubt. Dr. Locock, the Queen's phytician, will ■ ravel with her Majesty, and has engaged lodgings on the Parade. — Cambridge Independent.

Price of. Wool and Tallow. — June 16. fFrom the London Journal of Commerce.) Australian. — First quality, ls.Bd. to 2s. per Ib. ; ditto bcoured, Is. lOd. to 2s. 3d. ditto; middling, Is. 2d. to Is. 4d. ditto; inferior, 'Is. to Is. 2d. ; grease, Bd. to lOd. ; iambs' Is. 9d. to 2?. 3d. ; skin, pieces, and locks, Is. to Is. 4d. ditto. Van Diemen's Land. — First quality, Is. 7d. to Is. 9d. per Ib. ; scoured, Is. lOd. Co 2s. ditto; middliug, -Is. 3d. to Is. 6d. ditto; inferior, Is. to Is. 2d. ; grease, 7d» to 9d. ditto : ,lambs, Is. Bd. to 2s. 2d. ditto ; •kips, pieces and, locks, .Is. .to Is. 3d. ditto. South Australian* — First quality, Is. 4d % tp la, .sjl. per lb.;- middling, Is. Id. to Is. 4d. ditto; inferior, pieces and locks, lOd. to l,«, ditto \ .grease, 7d. to Bd. ditto ; lambs' Is. dittov • Port Phillip. — Fint quality, Is. 6d. to Is. VBd.,,per'lb.'; V 8d.,,per'lb.'; middling, Is. 3d. to Is. 5d.; interior* lOd. to Is. ditto; grease, Bd. to lOd. ditto; lambs' Is. sd. to 2s. ditto. Tallow. — C.V.P. 4s in steady demand at 50s. 9d. in 51s, for small parcels. At public sale 100 casks Odessa sheep sold at 30s. 6d. ; 37 casks Australian sold at 495. 6d. to 50s.- 3d. ; 53 pps. 20 hhds. South American sold, 'fair and good, 495. 9d. to 50s. per cwt., being all rather dearer. Oil. — At public sale this afternoon, 70 tuns colonial southern sold at very steady rates — first quality. £25, one lot £25 55., »econd, £24 ss. to £24 10s., and low and middling, £23 to £24 per tun.

Whalebone. — &\ tons southern at public sale partly sold at £160 per ton. Funeral of De. Chalmers. — The funeral of this distinguished man took place yesterday week at the cemetery at Grange, , near Edinburgh) in the ' presence of many thousand per»oris, the funeral procession consisting of the civic authorities, the gentry, the magistracy, and numbers of ministers — not only of the Free Church; but of the Established Church of Scotland, and of various dissenting congregations, who, together with other mourners, amounted to nearly 2,000 persons. Upwards'bf "forty carnages formed the rear of the procession, in which were Lords Moncrieff,'""Robertson, and Ivory, Sir J. H. Maxwell, Principal Lee, Professors Robertson, SimpsVnjrWilson, Alison, &c. The carriages of the Duchess of Gordon, of the Lofrd President, the Lord Provost, and Sir James Forrest, were also in the procession. The ranks of toe procession formed in two lines, between which the coffin, with its plate iuscribed, — "Thomas Chalmers, D.D., died May 31st, 1847, aged 67," was borne along, followed by the son of Dr. Hanna, as chief mourner, the relatives of the deceased, &c. The cause of Brl Chalmers death was generally under- j stood to be apoplexy, but the autopsy has shown it to have been disease of the heart, that organ having, to a considerable extent, been converted into fatty matter, and so become incapable of muscular action. The other parts of the body were decidedly healthy. Phrenology is rather rather at fault regarding Dr. Chalmers. From the largeness of his head externally, and the peculiarity of his mental temperament, the leading craniologists have long spoken of him as of necessity possessing a large brain; but the pott mortem

inspection of the encephaium has disabused this idea. Thus, the weight of the brain in Duputryen was 64 oz., in Cuvier 63, inAbercrombie 63, in Chalmers 53 — the average weight in persons from 50 *o 60 years of age being 50 oz. 2 drachms.— Bell's Messenger, June 12.

Volunteers for New Zealand. — Orders have been received to select from the enrolled pensioners who have volunteered to proceed to New Zealand, ninety of the youngest and most active men, who are to proceed to the Royal Engineer Establishment at Chatham, where they will go through a course of i instruction in sapping and mining, with special reference to the destruction of stockades and similar defences, in order that they may be prepared to operate against the pels of the enemy, should the chiefs still continue to oppose our government in that colon >. < Sieoe Operations at Chatham.— The 9th of June was a day of considerable interest to the military of the-garrison, oo account of an experiment in destroying a double stockade of very consideraLle strength, and resembling that of Heki's pa in New Zealand, by the Chelsea out-pensioners sent to this place to be instructed in field operations, under Colonel Sir Frederick Smith, K< H., of theßoy»l Engineers. The stockade was erected at the bottom of the field-works, and to witness the experiment were assembled the commandant of the garrison^ Colonel James Simpson, the brigade major, Captain Wood, and the principal officers of the staff. The company of ! pensioners were put through their drill by Colonel Sir F. Smith, and the first operation of breaching the stockade commenced by placing at some distance from the pa four large sap toilers and a small band truck, on which were placed bags of gunpowder. The rollers and truck weie moved forward with great precision and steadiness, the soldiers stooping as they advanced, the rollers covering them fiora the firing of musketry of the enemy inside of the stockade. On arriving close up to the erection, the truck was disengaged from the rollers and was run close under cover and tilted, causing the bags of powder to lie close up against the stockade ; the fuse (Binkford's) was then placet. Sir Frederick Smith had the whole of the company of pensioners drawn up in line in front of the building, aud he described very minutely the effect of powder placed as the present charges were ; and, after 1 detailing the nature of similar experiments previously tued, ordered the pensioners to fall back, with the exception of two or three, who remained lto witness the fuse ignited by the slow match by the Hon. John James Bury, assisted by Sergeant Major Allen, R. E. They then retired, and, after the lapse oi two minutes, a most awful explosion v/as made, which had the effect of destroying several balks of timber above a toot in thickness, and opening a breach in both sides of from eight to nine feet. The bags contained 200lbs. of of powder. On the 10th a similar experiment was made against a stockade, when charges containing lOOlbs. of ponder were laid on the ground close up, and clamped up firmly by six damp bags filled with sand, and, on being fired, a loud and terrific explosion took place, scattering the timber, and making a breach of thirteen feet. The explosion had such an effect, that about 200 panes of glass were broken in the Casemate Barracks, occupied by the invalid soldiers ; and the roof of a large building used by the Royal Engineers corps is so damaged that the whole must be taken off and replaced.; several panes of glass of private houses in Exmouth Terrace were also broken by the report, and the bystanders at some distance stated, that the earth trembled under their feet. The breaching was very satisfactory to Sir F. Smith, and also to the officers present. The pensioners are to go through a course of instruction in making gabions, sap-rollers, attacking stockades by means of sapping, forming bridges with casks, breastworks, and everything connected with field duties ; aud every means will be taken to make these veterans as perfect as possible within the time allowed, which is fourteen days.

Regent's Pack Barracks Bazaar. — This bazaar closed on Saturday. The amount received for admission and by the sale of goods, exceeds £6000. The Marchioness of Londonderry had the honour of selling several artides to her Majesty. Among these was a splendid screen made by the family of Mr. Hindhaugh, the manager of her ladyship's collieries, which was priced at £50, Her Majesty the Queen Dowager expended £50 with her ladyship. The Baroness de Brunow was the winner of a superb prize, presented to the officers on the committee, and deposited by them on the stall presided over by Mrs. Mountjoy Martyn, who disposed of the same by raffle. A rich silver fabric, presented by Madame Metayer, and valued at too high a price to obtain a purchaser . in. the ordinary course, was disposed of in * similar manner by Lady Marian Alfdrd, • andvran by Lord' Glenelg.' ' ' ' ' " ' r " _ >

Thh Battle of Waterloo. — At the entertainment given on the 18th June, by the Duke of Wellington, to commemorate the victory at Waterloo, bis grace in proposing the health of Sir H. Smith, said, that having alluded to those officers who had so recently returned to their native country, he desired more prominently to allude to one distinguished officer who had recently come among them from the scenes of the several actions in which he had been engaged, and which had cast so brilliant a lustre on British arras, and rendered such essential service to their common country. He alluded to an officer who was well known to ail of them — whose services in the Peninsula were as active as they were conspicuous — whose exertions during the late Caffre war were of eminent importance — and whose distinguished conduct on the banks of the Sutledge, during the recent Indian war, had rendered him justly distinguished iv the eyes of his native country. — (Cheeis.) The noble duke added, — ", I beg to proptose to. you ! The halth of Major-General Sir Harry Smith.'" The toast having been responded to with every possible mark of enthusiasm, — Sir Harry Smith rose, evidently labouring under feelings of intense emotion. After a momentary pause the gallant general proceeded to acknowledge the toast in the following terms : — " Immortal Duke of Wellington ! the present moment, I may truly say, is one of the proudest of my life. To have my health thus flatteringly proposed by the great captain of the age, while surrounded by many of his gallant and veteran generals, and among so large an assemblage of ray old comrades, so famed for deeds of arms, is an honour which I could scarcely aspire to, and which I feel unable adequately to acknowledge — (Hear*) To your grace J owe all the military honours I have received — to your grace I owe the uuiform I am now proud to wear. [In allusion to the colonelcy of the 2nd battalion ot the Rifle Brigade, recently presented to Sir Harry Smith by, the commander- iu-chief.] To the high opinion expressed of me by ) our grace am I indebted for the honours I have recently received from my sovereign and from my native countrymen. — (Cheers.) We, in this age, so far as in us lay, have endeavoured to steer your, grace's couise, having witnessed the eminent services which our country has derived from your grace's, exertions iv its behalf. May posterity continue to do so. — (Cheers.) Yotir grace's couise has "been through good and evil , report — changes>- of- eveut§~'ajid v circumstances— a course undeviating and unerring in devotion to the service and honour of your sovereign, and the welfare of yoijr native country. — (Hear.) Again I thank your grace for the honour you have done me, with ail the warmth of heart- of one of your old riflemen. " Thegallant general was warmly applau sed on resuming his seat.

Use op Ether. — Dr. James H. Pickford has addressed to the Morning Chronicle a solemn warning against the use of ether. He denies that the insensibility which it produces is no worse than that of drunkenness or asphyxia. There is a chemical alteration in the vital constituents of the blood ; for not only is that deprived of its oxygen, and of the power of coagulation, like the black vitiated blood of malignant and putrid fevers — but the corpuscules whence fibrin is formed are actually dissolved. Hence the blood takes a 'ong time to regain its lite-supporting, flesh-form-ing character ; wounds show everted edges and refuse to heal ; and the patient often sinks into death. The use of ether also tends to produce tubercular consumption oi the lungs : in thirty cases of death after the "use ot ether, in the Dublin Hospitals, the deaths could be traced to recent tubercules, be ieved to be the product of the ether. In a letter to the j imes, " Mentor" denounces a very fatal habit that has newly sprung up — " Entering a chemist's shop a nurse came in for four ounces of ether. As the chemist poured it out, he said to me, ' This is all the go now : it is used for inhalation. A small apparatus has been invented for the ladies. So delightful are the sensations it produces, that persons who have used it for the relief of pain continue to use it for the pleasure it affords.' On a former occasion I had warned a chemist of the danger of yielding to a habit which would become his master : the warning was neglected ; the habit has gained the mastery ; and the man of talent and of energy has become the imbecile, drivelling idiot."

American Newspapers in Mexico. — ' Theie are already eight American newspapers regularly published in- Mexico, viz., the Flag at Matamoras, Sentinel at Tampico, Eagle at Vera Cruz, Chronicler ditto, ttar at Jalapa, at Monterey (Nsw Leon), Californian at Monterey (California), and a Mormon paper at Yerba Buena, ditto. Of the whole number, two are in the department of Tamaulipas, one in that of New Leon, three in that of Vera Cruz, and two in California. Another will soon, in all likelihood, be established in Puebla, another' at San Luis Potosi, tnd twoIn th« city of Mexico. •

A New Servant's Club. — a proposition has been made to establish a club for footmen. We are happy to aid an undertaking of ■? laudable a character ; and to show our good intentions, we will begin by suggesting a nam« for the new concern. What do you think, reader, of the Knee Plush Ultra Club ?—? — Punch.