ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 252, 29 December 1847, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

General Lord Stafford was to be raised to an Earldom, and Lords Acheson and Cremorne, and Sir R. Bulkeley Phillips, Bart., would, it was said, be created Peers of the realm. Lieutenant-General Sir John Macdonald, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, and Sir Colin Halket, were to be honoured with the Grand Cross of the Bath. 'The Conde Montenaolin was sojourning at the Isle of Wight. ■ Lord Dundonald was canvassing for the office of Scottish Representative Peer. The following announcement appears in the Home Journal (New York) :—": — " Each part of Dombey and Son will be issued in an extra as soon as it reaches this country, and distributed gratuitously to subscribers." The Parisian papers give an account of a woman who prescribes for the sick according to the smell and appearance of their hair, no matter where her patients may be. Joseph Buonaparte's beautiful residence at I Borden town, on the Delawarre, New Jersey, [ is to be sold by action. «. Lieutenant Munro was tried on the 18tb August, before Mr. Justice Erie, and found i guilty of the wilful murder of Li eat. -Colonel ; Fawcett. The Jury retired for a quarter of |an hour, and in announcing their verdict,-. strongly recommended the prisoner to the ■ mercy of the court. The judge, under the .circumstances, merely ordered judgment of death to be recorded, assuring him that the sentence would not be carried into effect. The 1 case (said his Honor) would now be placed in the hands of the proper authorities, and, upon them would devolve the duty of affixing the

jfohislimW to' be inflicted oh him: The prisoned wi'i removed to gaol, and the Hotiie News says be ii confined in one of the condeWned' rooms, where all persons against whom sentence at death is recorded are placed. Mr. Macro has been informed that until an order to the contrary had been received from the Secretary of State, he will have to put up with prison allowance, being deprived of the few comfort* he had enjoyed since his surrender. Dr. Bridgeman, who is said to be an excellent Chinese scholar, says that the author who would write a good histoty of China must study carefully more than one thousand volumes of "native works. At the sale of Colonel Dutant's rare coins, s penny/ of Egbert, first sole monarch, coined in 830, realised £15 55.; a shilling of Henry VIII., the first coin issued in England under that denomination, sold for £19.

The Conspiracy at Rome. — A correspondent of the Times thus refers to the conspiracy which has been defeated at Rome: — It was intended to commemorate the anniversary of the amnesty granted by the Pope with the greatest magnificence on the evenings of Saturday and Sunday, the 17th aud 18th instant. As the time drew near for the celebration of the festivals, symptoms of great lineasiriess were observable among the people ; a vague undefined feeling seemed to pervade afll classes that some serious tumult would aiise, though from what quarter no one could tell. At the same. time the executive authorities seemed paralysed. Cardinal Gizzi, having tendered his resignation, had ceased in a manner to act, and the Cardinal Secretary of State, Ferretti, was anxiously expected from the provinces. The Governor of Rome, tH. GrasselHni, was perfectly inactive, for reasons which will immediately appear. Tfhursday, the loth instant, was a day which noi easily be forgotten by the inhabitants of Rome. The popular ferment had reached its' height ; the mysterious terror which pervaded the city showed itself in a thousand ways, when a channel and direction were g*iven to the feelings of the citizens by the sudden appearance on the walls of many frequented thoroughfares of handbills, some written and some roughly printed, containing k list of names, with a simple statement, that tue persons mentioned were the chiefs of a conspiracy against the people. Strange as it may seem, this anonymous (and to this moment mysterious) announcement seemed to give a clve 1 to the most terrible discoveries. It was like' * rocket thrown up to light up and lay bare the dark and treacherous preparations of an enemy. Most of the names were those of persons connected with the gendarmerie or police, the characters alluded to above as active or secret agents under a bygone system. The exasperation was tremendous. The police endeavoured in vain to tear down the popular proscription lists ; in the few instances in which they succeeded they were instantly replaced by fresh copies. A collision between the people and the police seemed inevitable ; for the latter were considered as implicated in the charges against their officers. But at this critical moment Prince Borghese and Duke Massimo hastened to the Palace, and throwing themselves at the Pope's feet, entreated him not to delay one hour in permitting the organization of the National Guard, which had been already promised. Their -request was granted; the news flew through the city, and, as if by magic, corps tie §ardc were formed in every quarter of the city, amidst the cheers of the spectators. In fidct the most respectable citizens hastened to drirol, and receive their arms — nobles, advocates, physicians, artists, aud shopkeepers, none below this rank being admissable. Patrdles paraded the streets during the night, and tranquillity and confidence were again restored. In the meantime, at the instance of tt deputation from the inhabitants, the fetis for the anniversary of the amnesty were put o# by the Secretary of State. By degrees the reality of a fearful plot, with its atrocious designs, came before the public. One of the persons denounced in the handbills of the 15th, Colonel Freddi, of the Carabiuiers (police force) fled that night, after giving orders (which were overheard) id His family to secure his papers, most of which were burnt before an attempt to seize th£m! was made. Cardinal Minardi, head igifil of the secret police, was nowhere to be found. But in the mean time many of their siibaltem agents were arrested, owing to the activity of the new guard, and the intelligent 2estl of the popular leader, Cicerovacchio, who got £he first c ue to any real discoveries, and at the risk of his own life has successfully followed it up. Most of the arrested were riatives of the suburb of Faenza, in the protin cis 6f Romagna, a suburb which has alseady shown discontent, and proceeded to lufbufcnce since the commmencement of this Pontificate. In small bodies or singly, several hundreds of these desperadoes had made tliei? '#% td Rome. Uporf their persons

were found large sums of money (as much as 40 or 50 dollars) of foreign coinage, and stilettoes, on the blades of which were" in- , scribed the popular cry, "Viva Pio Nono!" These" sicarii were to have mingled with' the ' crowd on the evening of the concert and fireworks ;' strong bodies were' to have been posted &i each approach to the square'; a tumult was to have been made, the sentinel at the gate was to have been struck down ; and the daggers of the hired ruffians were to have had full and indiscriminate play upon the defenceless and bewildered inhabitants. To use the expression of one of them, " blood was to have flowed tfrat night which the mid-day sun of the morrow could not have dried up." At the same time', the immense fenili. or hay stores, in different parts of the town were to have been fired, to increase the confusion, and all the houses of the opposite party were to have been rifled and sacked. The letter S, not then understood, but still remaining on the door-posts of houses, pointed out the obnoxious dwellings, and I write now fjpm a house which I have good reason to believe was destined for signal vengeance. Such projects of carnage and havoc will hardly be believed in a country preserved as ours has been from drinkingthe maddening cupofrevolutionary principles ; and I could not make up my mind to the truth of what I have stated until I had received my information from a quarter which did not allow a shadow of doubt to remain on my mind, and had, moreover, obtained such corroborative evidence of a singular character as must convince a sceptic. To resume, it may be asked what were the ulterior objects of the conspirators ? The answer as yet must remain a mystery ; perhaps cannot be ever given without establishing a casus belli. The most credited veision here is, that the Pope was to be intimidated into flight (under pretence, of course, that the Liberals had been the authors of the bloody tragedy), and that Austrian intervention was to have restored the good old limes of the public cormorants. The feeling of the people is strong that England, with a just and generous heart and hand, will protect them. In her unselfish policy there is great confidence that Rome will not become another Cracow. It is not the cause of a revolutionary movement against a lawful sovereign, or of a violation of pledges guaranteed by foreign powers. It is a peaceful and harmonious movement, by common consent of prince and p:ople, in favour of liberality, reform, and improvement. It is the first dawning in Italy of a better day, not of fanciful constitution, or ideal nationality, or even federalism, but of solid social amelioration in the condition of every class, guided by one whose calling and character are full security against ambitious projects, family views, or revolutionary schemes. And shall the iron heel of the German trooper be allowed to bruise this first spring flower to the dust, to crush this kindling spark back into the ashes of desolation, from which it is trying to awaken ? I trust not ; and I believe tlwt no more just or more popular use could be made of our influence and power than to cast their shield over this weak but noble principality, where, herhaps, for the first time the great experiment is being made of kindling the torch of civil and social enlightenment from the fire of the sanctuary. .

The Sandwich Islands. — One of the most curious and interesting communities at present in existence is that of the Sandwich Islands. There, among a people who yesterday, as it were, could only be regarded as savages, and who are even yet mere infants in civilisation, we find production and commerce yearly extending, with a constitutional monarchy under which education is progressing, and equitable laws framed and enforced. The instrumentality by which this has been effected is not less remarkable than the results. Permanently settled among the natives of the Sandwich Islands there is a population of European race, which can scarcely exceed in number a thousand individuals of all ages. One-half ot these are (or weie — for a considerable proportion of them have been naturalized) American citizens, one-fourth English subjects ; the remainder are most miscellaneous in their origin. These Europeans are the merchants, schbolmasters, manufacturers, and clergymen of the Islands. Some of them are planters on an extensive scale. The government is vested in the king, queen, and a council of chiefs belonging to the royal family ; but the administration is almost exclusively entrusted to ministers selected from among the European settlers. The Ministers ot Finance, Public Instruction, aud Foreign Affairs — the Attorney and Solicitor General — the heads of the Customs and Treasury departments — the Chief Judges, the Sheriff of the capital, and several justices of peace, are either American or Englishmen. The judicious manner in which these leading spirits of the civilised settlers exercise their intellectual ascendancy has enabled them , to bring and keep the chiefs within the pale of the law — to establish an efficient and permanent frame

of civil' government — under the> dominion of which industry and commerce are flourishing, the European and the high caste native race gradually becoming one. by intermarriages, and the transition of a whole society from a barbarous to a civilised state being effected with increased celerity, and without any painful struggles, For tins good work, credit is more or less dne to all the officials above enumerated ; but in an especial mauner to Mr. Judd, now, iv his capacity of Minister of Finance, the legislator and ruler of the Sandwich Islands. To the comprehensive views and firm character of that gentleman is the present satisfactory condition of the whole group mainly attributable. The ascendancy which his character gives him, bolb over the aborigines and the European settlers and visitors, has prevented collisions between them, and has compelled foreign governments to abstain from meddling with the internal affairs of the islands. The foundations of a civilised state have been laid, and the rearing oftshe supersti ucture far advanced, by his efforts, within the brief space of a quarter of a century. The intellectual, moral, and religious character of the Hawaiian people will be cast in the English mould ; they are de facto a colony of the United States. The North American Union has now its colonies, as well as its parent countr.., England. Rightly viewed, all the " territories" of the Union which have grown up, or are growing up into states, are colouies ; but the continuity of the territory in the case of most of them causes an apparent difference. The remoteness of the American settlements in Oregon, California, and the Sandwich Islands renders their analogy to our English over-sea colonies more obvious. In all of these regions American settlements have been founded and are certain to endure. The proclamation of Governor Kearney to the Californians, and the message of the Governor of Oregon to his extemporised legislature, are evidence that these territories and their inhabitants are to stand henceforth in a relation of dependence to tlie government of Washington. The settlers in Oregon will be in a great measure t f unmixed Anglo-American race. The descendants of the Mormon settlement in California will in time occupy the whole land as surely as those of the Pilgrim Fathers exclusively possess New England. The connexion of the Sandwich Islands with the Union will be less close, less the result of any le^al connexion, than of the bonds of kindred arising from the preponderance of Americans among the first missionaries and settlers there, confirmed by the greater repair of American whalers and merchantmen to those islands than of any other nation, and to the necessary increase in their majority, now that the Columbia and tlie Bay of San Francisco have become American ports. The north-eastern shore of the Pacific and its nearest island groups are in the progress of settlement, and their commerce with that of the surrounding regions is about to be developed by Americans, as surely as the same work is being effected on its south-western coasts and the adjoining island groups by British colonists. \Vbat the Australian settlements and New Zealand are to Great Britain ; Oregon and California, with the Sandwich Islands, are about to be to the United States. This is a matter of congratulation for Great | Britain, not of jealousy. The joint labouis of England and America are required to reclaim the Pacific for the profitable use of civilised men. Between them — to say nothing of the secondary efforts of other nations — that ocean, with its continental shores and is- | lands, which at the beginning of the present century were scarcely turned to any account by civilised men, are rapidly becoming as much frequented, and converted to as profitable purpose, as the Atlantic. It will be a useful lesson to our countrymen — though we fear scarcely flattering to their vanity — to contrast the manner in which the Americans have done their work in theHawaiian, with the manner in which we are doing our work in the New Zealand group. But this must be reserved for another paper. Daily News, August 7.