LATE ENGLISH NEWS. [From the Sydney Morning Herald & Australian.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 269, 26 February 1848, Page 3

LATE ENGLISH NEWS. [From the Sydney Morning Herald & Australian.]

By the Marion, which had arrived at Hobart Town, we have received letters from England, aud news to the 29th of September. We regret to say that the mercantile panic seems to be increasing. Private letters state that the following eminent firms had suspended their payments, vi&. — Messrs. Watson Brothers, of Liverpool, largely engaged in the Mexican trade ; Messrs, Cockerell, Larpent, & Co., certainly the first house in the East India trade; Messrs. Cockburn & Co., Bankers and Army Agents ; Messrs. Burt & Co., of Manchester ; Messrs. Perkins, Schlusser, and Mullins, a firm largely engaged in the India aud Russia trades ; Messrs. L. Bensusan & Co.,Mogador aud Barbary merchants ; Messrs. Cockburn Brothers, of Mark-lane, Oporto merchants ; Messrs. Westlake & Co., the eminent corn-merchants of Southampton. The celebrated Magczin dcs Modes of Messrs. Howell & James, Waterloo-place, London, had also stopped payment. Tins far-famed establishment, familiarly called the " Ruination Shop," was probably the largest concern of the kind of which the European fashionable wtrld boasted. In the obituary we notice the demise of Sir J. B. Bosanquet, who, for the period of twelve years, was one of the Puisne Judges in the Court of Common Pleas. M. Coletti, the Greek Minister, died on the 12th of September; and yice-Admiral S : r Charles Dashwood, X.C.8., Grand'Cross of the Tower and Sword, the .last surviving officer of Lord Rodney's ship, the Formidable, on the 21st. Sir John Burke, Bart., died at Dublin on the 13th of September. The Marshal Puke de

Reggio, Governor of the Invalids, died at Paris on the same day.

By the Alert (P.0.P.), Captain Davidson, we have received papers to the 3rd of Octo- j ber ; and we regret to state that the rumours of the stoppage of several extensive mercantile houses, which reached us last week via Hobart Town, have been confirmed. From the slight glance we have been able to give the papers, however, we trust the consequences v. ill not be so fearful as at first sight was anticipated. The Morning Chronicle of the 2d October speaks in the following encouraging terms :—: — The present position of commercial affairs demands the most serious consideration of every reflecting' person. It will be seen from our usual record of the state of the Money Market, that the uneasiness and pressure which have been experienced during the week were felt in an aggravated degree yesterday, and that a decline of fully one per cent, took place in tre value of the public securities. We believe that this increased pressure is" purely the result of temporary causes, and that the apprehensions which are at present producing so severe a contraction of credit are not justified by the real state and prospects of trade. In two branches of our import trade we have had, indeed, very serious failures, but those failures have been connected one with another by close relations, and their occurrence is no p:oof whatever that the general commerce of the country is not in a sound and" safe condition. A great house like that of Reid, Irving, & Co., is brought to the ground, by causes which have been for years in operation. In their fall they crush others. An India mail brings large remittances in the shape of drafts or bills on the insolvent firms, and the receivers of such remittances become, at least for the moment, insolvent* Of houses thus compelled to stop within the last few days, »<■ hear already of some who are either on the point of resuming their payments, or whose assets are ascertained to be much more than sufficient to meet their liabilities. If even houses suffering from temporary discredit are found to be thus solid, still more certain is it that the great mass of commercial firms, who are in no way connected with the recent failures, are in the possession of as ample a capital as at any former period. The ordinary trade of the country, however depressed by a season of scaicity, is not suffering from a speculative extension, and every month which passes is lively to quicken demand, and give buoyancy to our principal markets. Our position, therefore, as a whole, is one which ought not to inspire distrust, but hope and confidence." The King of the French, on the report of the Minister of Justice, had granted a free pardon to nearly five hundred persons condemned to various terms of imprisonment for having been concerned in the bread riots of last year. The city of Pesth, in Hungary, has contracted a loan of 2,000,000 of florins, (about £200,000,) which is to be exclusively devoted to the promotion of education. By the latest advic 3 s from America, intelligence had been received ol the death of Silas Wright, Governor of New York. The deceased was a candidate on the democratic interest for the Presidential chair. A vacancy to a colonelcy had occurred in consequence of the demise of LieutenantGeneral Sir Henry Sheehy Keating, X.C.8., colonel of her Majesty's 33rd regiment of foot, Advices from Germany mention that the railroad between Berlin and the Rhine is almost entuely completed, and that the whole of the line would be thrown open on the 15th October, the anniversary of the King of Prussia's birthday. There had been an awful storm at St. Petersburgh ; upwards of 400 houses had been destroyed.

The Liverpool letters received this morning, give the particulars of the stoppage of Thomas and Henry, a highly respectable firm in the East and West India trade. The occurrence is attributed to the failure of Samuel Phillips and Co., and the liabilities are stated at £150,000 of which £130,000 is upon acceptances. Their balance sheet is understood to show a surplus of good assets to the amount of £80,000. With regard to the general bills which have matured to-day iv consequence of its being the 4th of the month, it is understood that, on the whole, they have been met in a very satisfactory manner. The Russian and Polish intelligence received in Paris was of a sombre character. The new levy of 80,050 conscripts, ordered by t the Emperor, was partly with a view to the ex T termination of the petite noblesse of Poland, who are compelled to furnish one man for every ten inhabitants, and partly to meet the havoc which it is feared the cholera will make in the ranks of the army. No doubt existed in St, Petersburgh, that the journey of the Czar and ot the Imperial family to Moscow,

was literally a flight from the approaching scourge. Paris letters, in the Times, state that the French Government not only considered the arrival of the cholera in Frauce as probable, but had already, with praiseworthy foresight, ordered measures to mitigate its severity, if not to arrest its progress. The Constitutionnel announces the arrival at Toulon, of Count Walewski, the French Plenipotentiary to La Plata. Count Walewski sailed from Monte Video for France, on the 3rd of August, in the Cassini. In consequence of Lord Howden having ordered the British squadron to raise the blockade of Buenos Ayres, Count Walewski considered it expedient to return to France for fresh instructions. The Courrier Francois states, that on Friday 'ast, TVI. Guizot presented to the Marquis of Normanby a rrote, in reply to that in which Lord Palmerston demanded an explanation on the subject of the appointment of the Duke d'Aumale to the government of Algeria. The ' Minister is reported to have declared, that the appointment of the Prince implied no change of principle, in the situation of affairs, as arranged with the British Government, subsequent to the year 1830. The Semaphore of Marseilles, of the 30th ult., contains a letter, dated Rome, September 25, which contradicts the reported resignation of Cardinal Ferretti. Rome and the legations continued to be perfectly tranquil, and the National Guard was Ijeing organized and drilled. A number of voluntary contributions had been received of arms and cloth for the use of the guard. The Prince of Ca■nino, who had been ordered to quit Venice by ihe authorities, and was escorted to the frontiers by Austrian dragoons, had, on his arrival in Rome, conducted himself in so unbecoming a manner, that the Government had commanded him to confine himself to his palace. The Prince replied that he would obey, but that he proposed to visit the theatre the same evening, according to his usual custom. On this he was informed that if he crossed the threshold of his palace, he should be lodged in the castle of St. Angelo. Every body applauded that measure of equal justice applied to a Prince, as if he weie a simple individual. The Morning Post, the highest authority in such matters, contradicts the reported union of the Duke of Wellington and Miss Burdett Coutts. Lord Morpeth had sustained a serious injury by falling from his horse. Mr. Francis Brady, son to the present Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and a Roman Catholic, has been gazetted Chijf Justice of Newfoundland. The Montreal Herald says, that Mr. M'Donald, late an officer in the British army, and an inhabitant of that city, had been declared heir to the dukedom of Tarentum, and the property attached thereto. The dukedom was created by Napoleon in favour of the celebrated Marshal M'Douald. Lord Hardinge will leave Calcutta for England in January. Captain Stuart, of the 14th Dragoons, and Mr. Woodhouse Cunie (son of Mr. Raikes Currie, M.P. for Northampton), who have been travelling in India for the last twelve months, purposed starting from Simla on the 17th July, on a tour over the* snowy mountains into Cashmir, from whence they intended to visit Gholab Singh, at Jumu.oo, and to reach Lahore early in October.

Turkey. — Extensive and fatal conflagration at Constantinople — summary PUNISHMENT OF DEPREDATORS. Constantinople. — Yesterday, the 13tb September, at half-past three in the afternoon, a dreadful fire broke out at Pera, in the immediate neighbourhood of Galata Serail. The wind, which Was high at the time, increased to a hurricane, and in a few minutes the fire bad extended itself over a considerable portion of Pera. At five o'clock it had gained the houses near the new British palace on the one side, and Baluk Bazaar on the other, a distance of fifty houses in a straight line. At six the alarm was given that the fire ha I broken out in the very centre of Pera, in the direction of the small burying ground, a considerable distance from the original seat of the conflagation itself. Fortunately for us the wind turned to the east, and the fire was thrown towards an open space in Picolo Campo. At half past six ii was announced that another tire b,aii broken out in a Turkish quarter at Orta Kriey, and thus the surplus of the spectators, fireman and water-carriers, &c,, were attracted' towards that direction. At half- past 10, the fire was mastered on. all sides, having consumed upwards of 250 large houses, inhabited by the elite of our Perote families. Sixteen ot these were large stone mansions, which had conse-. quently become the- depot of furniture and goods, Th° British chapel, and several outhouses, appertaining to the new palace, were consumed, In all, it is calculated the loss, of, property must exceed a million sterling. Several persons perished on the occasion, and, among others, it is said, a young Englishman, who had remained in a house .with the hopejj

of saving some important papers belonging to a person who was himself absent in the country. It is likewise said that three villains, who were caught by Fetri Ahmet Pacha, profiting by the misfortune to rob the unfortunate sufferers whose houses were taking fire, were by his orders thrown into the fire and burnt. By the Austrian steamer, which arrived yesterday, we have received the important intelligence of the death of Coletti. It is very probable the Greek question now approaches towards an arrangement; but some time will: slap* c before it is finally settled, on account' of the obstinacy of King Otho. The news received from Albama is favourable to the preservation of peace. The array of the Sultan, which was in vast force, had advanced into the mountains of Malacastro, and had defeated the insurgents in several engagements. There will be some very important .changes in the Turkish high functionaries immediately after the Bairam ; but the exact nature of them can as yet be only matter of .conjecture. It is confidently stated by some, that Mehemet Ali Pacha and Hosref Pacha will again be brought forward. The Edinburgh Gazette notifies that Lieutenant Walter Scott Lockharl, of the sixteenth Light Dragoons (grandson of Sir Walter, and heir of Abbotsford,) has been permitted to assume the name of Scott in addition to that of Lockhart. A French surgeon states that by fitting bedsteads with glass feet, and isolating them about eighteen inches from the wall of the apartment, he has cured the patients sleeping on them of a host of nervous affections. A newly married lady, who was very fond of her husband, notwithstanding his extreme ugliness of person, once said to a very witty friend, " What do you think ? my husband has gone and laid out fifty guineas for a baboou, on purpose to please me i" ** The dear little man !" cried the other; " well, it is just like him /" The last, best fruit, which comes to perfection in the kindliest soil, is tenderness towards the hard, forbearance towards the unforbearing, warmth of heart towards the cold, philanthrophy towards the misanthropic. Mr. Alexander, of Hermitage, has left nearly £60,000 to endow an hospital for, the education, clothing, and, if necessary, the support of poor children of both sexes, in the city of Glasgow.

Anecdote of Jenny Lind. — When this celebrated songstress first came to England she received a command from the Palace to assist at her Majesty's concert. Her agree- ' raent with Mr. Lumley, however, did not permit of her singing anywhere except at the Italian Opera House, and she was compelled to state as much in reply to the Queen. Jenny, however, was much mortified* at being compelled to refuse the Sovereign of the country in which she was about to make her debut, so she made up her mind to explain to our gracious Queen, in person, why and wherefore she was obliged to act in violence to her own wishes, but to the letter of her agreement. Ordering her carriage, without thinking of form or etiquette, off she set for Buckingham Palace ; but as may be supposed, the officials required her to give some intimation of who she was. This she was unable to, but giving her card to one of the attendants, she iutreated that it might be conveyed to the royal presence. This, also, was refused at first, but one of the higher authorities happening to hear of the stranger's request took upon himself the responsibility, and Jenny Lind's card was placed before, her Majesty. No sooner did she see Jenny Lind's name than she exclaimed "Admit her, by all means." Jenny was accordingly ushered up, and entered at once, in the most natural way in the world, to explain that it was no fault of hers not singing at her Majesty's concert, and she was so unhappy lest her Majesty should think her to blame, that she considered it better to call in person. This and much more was said, in a manner so naive, yet respectful, that the Queen was quite gratified, and promised to be a friend to her while she remained in England. Jenny then withdrew, delighted with her reception, and determining upon "doing her very best" when arrangements should, be made with the manager for her professional appearance at the Palace.