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ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

A good service pension, at the disposal of the Admiralty, has been given to Captain Marryatt, C.B. It is stated as a scientific fact not yet accounted for, that the electric telegraph will not work in the summit tunnel of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway. This tunnel was one of the severest pieces of boring that has been executed, and is the longest of English tunnels, not excepting that of Box on the Great Western. The Canadian papers announce the decease of Sir Richard Heury Bonnycastle, late Lieu-tenant-Colonel commanding the Royd Engineers in Kingston, and for many y—xs the chief officer of that department in Western Canada. He died on the 12th November. Sir Richard served with distinction at the siege of Flushing in 1 808, iv the Ameritan war from 1812 to 1815, and was at the capture of Castine and other places on the coast during the war ; served with the Duke of Wellington's army in France from 1815 to 1818 ; was the author of works on " Spanish America," the " Canadas in 1841," and " Newfoundland in 1842." The Reverend W. Jacobson, of Magdalen Hall, has been appointed to the chair of Regius Professor of Divinity, vacant by Dr. Hampden's elevation to the see of Hereford. The King of Bavaria has spontaneously abolished the censorship of the press ; the decree is dated on the 16th instant, and is to take effect on the Ist of January 1848. A volcano had broken out on the Look-out Mountain, Georgia ; and many of the inhabitauts were leaving the vicinity. , Quoting a contemporary of the Far West, the St. Louis JEra describes a terrible adventure in the Prairies. " The Hannibal Gazette says, that young Houston, one of the Marion volunteers, was lost on the way from Santa Fe, in a singular manner. We are told, that when a hunter rides into a herd of buffaloes, it is often the case that they become frightened, and the whole mass starts with furious speed for the mountains, and there is no way to get out but to keep the same speed, and work your way gradually from among them ; to halt would be certain death, as the mass would pass over and crush you ; and hunters are often carried seven and ten miles before they can disentangle themselves from the headlong herd. In this way Mr. Houston disappeared. When last seen, he was flying over the plain, endeavouring to make his way out of a drove of several thousand, and has not been heard of since." Abd-El-Kader. — The following letter from Toulon contains some curious detailsupon the submission of Abd-El-Kader : — " I have seen the Emir. It is quite a mistake that his eyes are black ; they are of a decided gray, shaded by very long black eyelashes. He speaks very fluently, which is a proof of high distinction among the Arabs. Whatever may be the reputation of Abd-El-Kader as a soldier, politician, or Mahometan priest, it is much greater as a literary man. He is said to be as learned as an Arab can be. Two leathern trunks containing his library have always accompanied him, even during the last months that preceded bis submission ; they also made part of bis personal baggage on board. But every one is ignorant of the real cause of his submission, which was love.He is another Antony. After having endeavoured with heroic courage to make a passage through the Moorish camp, he succeeded, with a considerable number of his followers, in sufficiently disengaging himself as to be able to gain the desert, but at the moment he was about to profit by the liberty this last coup, de main gave him he heard the firing which had reached his deira. Then, like the lion of the desert who sees his lioness entrapped and his cubs carried away, he retraced his steps and fell upon the Moors, with the rest of his faithful followers, whilst the cries of his wives, whose tents the enemy had commenced pillaging, exalted his cou.age. Twice the Emir was rolled to the ground with hi& horse wounded under him, twice surrounded and seized he released himself by his extraordinary agility, and gained a victory by hard fighting in the midst of a victorious retreat. "The Moors,. intoxicated with the desire of pillaging the deira, threw themselves in numbers upon this body of 4,000 old men, women, and children, defended by the Emir,, surrounded only by his kalifats, aghas, bachaghas, and the chiefs of bis regular troops,

and likewise in want of amunition. Finally, after having left behind him a train of hit friends' and enemies' blood extending three leagues, he arrived upon our frontier, where, for the price of such an offence, he found no other alternative than a choice between two enemies. At last, abandoning his deira, which enclosed; all bis affections, to our generosity, he departed in order to regain the South. After two nights' march, though certain of saving himself, his heart softened at the iJea of his isolation, and preferring captivity with his friends, he returned to treat with us. If this man had not already conquered our esteem by the heroic struggle he has sustained against us during 15 years, every one here agrees in saying that the courage he has displayed in this last and supreme hour of his military career demands our deepest sympathy — provided that history does not write upon his tomb, to our shame and the justification of England, 'He also came like Themistocles ; but like Napoleon, he only found an implacable enemy.' "The Emir is still confined in his sad prison. He reads the Koran to his faithful followers. During the prayers they open the windows and make a large fire in the middle of the room. His mother cries, his wives sob,. and he is almost broken-hearted. It is said, the only thing which consoles him is that the unfaithfulness of bis enemy aggravates his misfortune." Ciceroacchio, the well known Roman patriot; has placarded the walls of the Eternal •City with the following " protestation" — " I, Angelo Brunetti, better known as Ciceroacchio, find it necessary to announce, that I have no connexion with place-beggars, and' cannot procure situations for needy persons; lam a simple man, earning my bread for my family by honest industry. Ido not frequent antechambers or the halls of great people. It is made known to me that people are going about collecting money by way of tribute to me, as a man who ought to be supported at the public expense. These men are impostors, and traffic on public credulity. My only wish is to do my duty as a citizen, and to forward the interests of the dwellers in the noblest land the sun ever shone upon — the land of Pio Nono 1" Maxims on Money. — The art of living easily as to money, is to pitch your scale of living one degree below your means. Comfort ■and enjoyment are more dependent upon easiness in the detail of expenditure than upon one degree's difference in the scale. Guard against false associations of pleasure with expenditure — the notion that because pleasure can be purchased with money, therefore money cannot be spent without enjoyment. What a thing costs a man is no true measure of what it is worth to him ; and yet how often is his appreciation governed by no other standard, as if there were a pleasure in •expenditure per se. Let yourself feel a want before you provide against it. You are more assured that it is a real want ; and it is worth while to feel it a little in order to feel the relief from it. When you are undecided as to which of two courses you would like best, choose the cheapest. This zule will not only save money, but save also a good deal of trifling indecision. Too much leisure leads to expense ; because when a man is in want of objects, it occurs to him that they are to be had for money, and he invents expenditures. in order to pass the time. — Taylor's Notes from 'life.

Why People Live on a Volcano. — A river of lava has been known to be fifty feet deep and four miles broad. Fancy such a stream coming towards London, as wide as from Marylebone to Mile-end ! By degrees, the lava thickens into a black and rustling semi-liquid ; rather pushed along than flowing ; though its heat has been found lingering after a lapse of eight years. When the survivors of all these horrors gather breath and look back upon time and place, they find houses and families abolished, and have to begin, as it were; their stunned existence anew. Yet they build again over these earthquakes. They inhabit and delight in this mountain. Catania, the- city at its foot, which has been several times demolished, is one of the gayest, in Italy. How is this ? — The reason is, that all pain, generally speaking, is destined to be short and fugitive, compared with the duration of a greater amount of pleasure ; that the souls which perish in the convulsion were partakers of that pleasure for the greater part of their lives, perhaps the gayest of the gay city ; that all of them were born there, or connected with it ; that it is inconvenient, perhaps without government aid impossible, to remove and commence business elsewhere ; that they do not think the catastrophe likely to recur soon, perhaps not in the course of their lives ; nay, that possibly there may be something of a gambling excitement — of the stimulus of a mixture of hope and' fear — in thus living on' the borders' of' life and' death — of ! tbis great snap-dragon >bowl of Europe—^especially surrounded as they are with the old familiar

scenes, and breathing a joyous atmosphere. i But undoubtedly, the chief reasons are 1 neces- ■ sity, real or supposed, and the natural tendency of mankind to make the beat position and turn theinthoughts from sadhessi So the Gatanian goes to his dinner^ and builds a new ball-room out of the lava !

' Death of a Man-of- War's Man. — Re- , miniscences of his Marriage. — Mr. Alexander Brown, mariner, a native of Scotland, died at Hartley, near Tynemouth, recently, aged 73. He served his apprenticeship on board the Maxwell, of Seaton Sluice, and at the expiration of his indentures found himself in the midst of the revolutionary war. A' full share of the hardships and hazards of that great conflict fell to his lot. Man of war (floating prison) and a French prison kept him from Seaton Sluice until the peace, when having escaped the perils of the sea, he fe'l a victim to a peril' of the land. He was one day taking a walk from Shields to Hartley, and fell in with a group of merry damsels near the stile at Whitley Park corner. Some jokes were exchanged, until at length one of the girls, going beyond a joke, asked him if he did not want a wife ? "To be sure I' do." was his reply. Following up her advantage, she popped the question, " Then which of us will you have ?" This was a poser. The English tar was no Turk, or he would have had them all. He must make his choice, and really they were so equally attractive that he knew not which to prefer. In this extremity he did what man is so fond of doing, he threw his fate upon the decision of chance. " I'll marry the girl," said he, " who jumps the furthest." The humour of the thing tickled the fancy of the maidens, and the next moment they were jumping for a husband. Nancy Nesbitt was the victor, and Alick bought a license forthwith. They were married on the following morning, and they lived long and happy together, and brought up a large family. For the last twenty-nine years the deceased had sailed in the Gratitude of Seaton Slmce.—Gatetfiead Observer.

Eatables in Italy- — Roasted chestnuts are the potatoes of Italy. You see them cooked in every street ; they are very good, and are brought to the tables of the great. Pumpkins, as large as a man can carry, are cut up into slices, and sold for a quarter of a farthing each. They have no beef, except the miserable flesh of tbe white ox, worn down to a skeleton with drawing their lumbering drays. The skinned lambs and kids hang up by dozens at the butcher's doors, no bigger than a cat. When brought to table, in the form of chops, you may cover a single one with a half-crown piece. Fruit is cheap and delicious ; grapes a penny a-pound, apples and pears a farthing, and the most delightful oranges eight for a halfpenny. The living at Rome is more substantial than at Naples, though the meat is scarcely better. The bread is disagreeably sour, but it may be procured at the confectioners' made in the English way, at treble the cost. The number of small birds, sold in strings ready to for the spit, chiefly larks caught at the Campagna, is extraordinary ; fowls may be bought at five-pence a piece. Turkeys are very abundant ; you see them driven in flocks, like sheep in England, blocking up the street. They are very common food amongst the lower classes who usually buy half a turkey ; and I have frequently remarked the dexterity and expedition with which the stall keepers will split the turkey in two for the convenience of the purchasers. Young wild boars, hunted in the Campagna, with porcupines from the same district, are considered great delicacies. The abundance ■of vegetables is quite surprising. Brocoli is a great article of food — very excellent and very cheap. All sorts are cooked in the street, whence you have them brought hot to your table. The natural richness of the soil is peculiarly favourable to the growth and perfection' of vegetables. We had, in tbe middle of December, green peas and asparagus for dinner. Their pastry is excellent, and the water sparkling from the fountain, is the finest in the world. — Gardiner's sights in Italy. A Scene in a Scotch Court of Justice in 1757.— The Dean of Faculty at that time was Mr. Lockhart, afterwards Lord Covington, a mtn of learning, but of a demeanour harsh and overbearing. It had ever been considered the duty' of the chief of the body of advocates freely elected to preside over them, to be particularly kind and protecting to beginners ; but Lockhart treated all who came in contact with him in a manner equally-of-fensive, although he had been engaged in a personal altercation with a gentleman out of court, who had threatened- to inflict personal cbastisment upon him ; and there were' some circumstances in his domestic lifts supposed to render his reputation vulnerable; At last four junior advocates, of whom' Wedder burn, afterwards Lord Chancellor Loughborough, was one, entered into a mutual engagement that he among' them who first had an opportunity should resent the arrogance of the Dean and publicly insult him. It was ! by mere accident that, the opportunity occurred to Wed-

derburn, who certainly made a good use of it. In? the very end of July or beginning of August, 1757, (the exact' day I have not been 1 able! to 'ascertain,) Wedderburn ? was' opposed iv the inner house as counsel' to' Lockhart, and was called by him a " presumptuous boy" experiencing from him even more than his wonted rudeness and superciliousness. When the presumptuous boy came to reply, he delivered such a furious personal invective as never was before or since heard at the Scottish bar. A lively impression still remains of its character ; but newspaper reporting was then unknown in Edinburgh* arid oral tradition has preserved only one sentence' of that which probably was the meditated part of the harangue : " The learned Dean has confined 1 himself on this occasion to vituperation ; Ido not say that he is capable of reasoning, but if tears would have answered his purpose I am sure tears would not have been wanting." Lockhart here started up and threatened him with vengeance. Wedderburn : " I care little, my lords, for what may be said or done by a man who has been disgraced in' his person and dishonoured in his bed." Lord President Cragie, being afterwards asked why he had not sooner interfered, answered, "Because Wedderburn made all the flesh creep on my bones." But at last his lordship declared in a firm tone, that " this was language unbecoming a gentleman." Wedderburn, now in a state of such excitement as to have lost all sense of decorum and propriety, exclaimed that "his lordship had said as a judge what he could not justify as a gentleman." The President appealed to his brethren as to what was fit to be done, who unanimously resolved that Mr. Wedderburn should retract his words and make an humble apology, on pain of deprivation. All of a sudden, Wedderburn seemed to have ■ subdued his passion, and put on an air of deliberate coolness ; when, instead of the expected retraction and apology, he stripped off his gown, and holding it in his hands before the judges, he said, " My lords, I neither retract nor apologise, but I will save you the ttouble of deprivation ; there is my gown, and I will never wear it more; virtute me involvo." He then coolly laid his gown upon the bar, made a low bow to the judges, and before they had recovered from their amazement he left the court, which he never again entered. That very night he set off for London. I know not j whether he had any apprehension of the steps which the judges might have taken to vindicate their dignity, or whether he was ashamed to meet his friends of the Parliament House, but he had formed a resolution, which he faithfully kept, to abandon his native country, and nevermore to revisit it.— Lord Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors,

The Gakdener at Walmer. — The Duke's own especial gardener is a fine, portly, healthy, happy, handsome, elderly man. He was at the battle of Waterloo, and his regiment was disbanded afterwards, and the Duke, for good reasons doubtless, proposed to him to take the situation as head-gardener at Walmer. He demurred — as much as a true soldier could presume to do at the decree of his commanding officer — for by his own especial declaration he did not know a moss rose from a cabbage ; but the Duke was peremptory, and he could but obey orders. " But now," he said, "I get on pretty well." — "And like it?"— "Oh, yes."— "But suppose war were to break out, should you be a soldier again ?" — " Why, that would depend on tile Duke ; if he said I must go, of course I must." — " But how did you manage when you first came here ?"- — " Why, as well as I could ; but I was rather awkward." — " Perhaps you studied hard — read a good deal?" — "No, I didn't read at all."— " You looked about you, then ?" — " Why, yes, I did." — " And you get on very well ? — " Why, yes ; but I'm plagued sometimes ; the names of the flowers puzzle me sadly." — " And what did the Duke say to that ?" — " Oh, I had him there, for he doesn't know them himself."

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZSCSG18480614.2.8

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 300, 14 June 1848, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
3,227

ENGLISH EXTRACTS. New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 300, 14 June 1848, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS. New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 300, 14 June 1848, Page 3

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