ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume V, Issue 369, 14 February 1849, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

With the desire of assisting the unfortunate sufferers in the Ocean Monarch the Prince de Joinville forwarded to Admiral Grenfell a drawing representing the conflagration of that vessel, to be disposed of by raffle, the proceeds to be applied to their relief. The drawing was exhibited in the Liverpool Exchange Rooms, and in two hours four hundred tickets at ss. each were disposed of. The following are some of the prices obtained at the sale of the wines at Stowe. Amontillado sherry' of the date of 1818, rea- j lized an average of 465. per dozen. The Latour and Lafitte clarets varied in price, some lots selling as low as 425,, and others realizing 60s. per dozen. Of the champagnes none exceeded 555. per dozen. The War Pb,ess of France. — Here is a specimen of the articles with which the war party in France is endeavouring to embarrass the government, whose intentions are evidently of f a [pacific^ nature":— "The French revolution allowing Italy to becrushed by the armies of Austria internal, o^pjobium to our B.epubliMu, / b J is),Qr^,^od "the shades of ,lhe Kings the shade of Francis!.,* hive the'jright tocist*n.3,nathemaon,our^fltg! The French " rerolmiod 'tllyiug Itself with

I feudal and trading England to save nations is a bitter irony against them ; it is the desertion, the forgetfulu ess of all our great duties — the work of the last reign which is contii nued ! Ah, we know that these are difficult I times ; our internal discords paralyza our force ; our exchequer is nearly empty : and j France, still lying in its bed of Waterloo, the France of interest, shivers at the first breath !of war. But whose is the fault ? Did not | the people of February arise as in the great days of the first Republic? Was not the country up four months ago ? Did not all the kings of Europe turn pale at the flashing iof its redoubtable sword ? Why, then, was the hour of valiant excitement allowed to pass away ? Why was the Revolution not allowed to advance when the tide was flowing? We had, under our hand the means of avenging all ou^ defeats, by .freeing the nations that called upon us. But it was preferred to play at melodies and ballads, and now policy is made at a discount; adultery is made with that Great Britain which would betray herself and would sell her last child, if she found her interest in it ! Is not England always that hypocritical and greedy oligarchy, which liasno other religion than that of pride and the bale of goods ? Are her people free ? Does not Her government, whether it calls itself Pitt or Palmerston, always pursue the same [ policy, that of pirates ? Is not Wellington, that purple of chance, that rag of glory, always the heart and chief of her couucils ? Tell us then, that the task terrifies you, and that you dare not continue the history opened by our great revolution. Your patriotism and probity could not suffer therefrom ; for we know that you have the heart broken under the weight of crisis, and if you retreat, it is only by impuissance ! But all is not yet lost. Shake off boldly these complicities which embarrass you, and return to the revolution ; it has treasures of heroism ia her heart, and when Europe shall see our first army descend the Alps with banners displayed, she will demand from you grace and pity ; for an army of the Republic in march against kings is the awakening of nations, the dismay of all the Cffisars !"

Hawkers of Newspapers in Paris. — A meet'.ng of criers of newspapers, ten of whom were women, met on Tuesday at a wine-shop on the- Boulevard da Temple^ and resolved i unanimously that, in order not to riolate the law, the sellers of the evening papers should demand of the Prefect of Police the permission to walk the streets of Paris with a great lantern, with the name and price of the journal inscribed on it, each journal having a separate lantern of a red, blue, or white colour; and it was also resolved to demand that the newspaper sellers should be allowed to carry bells. Each journal to have a syndic to make rules for all the sellers, which are to be strictly obeyed. All disputes and quarrels tp be punished by a fine of If. for a common relief fund, and for a quarrel attended with blows ! be fined 3f., a repetition of the offence depriving the offender of the privilege of selling papers. Sir Henry Seton having been compelled by severe illness to quit India, has resigned his appointment as Puisne Judge of the Supreme Court at Calcutta ; and James William Colville, Esq., at present holding the office of the East Indian Company's Advocate General at that presidency, has been recommended to her Majesty for the seat on the bench vacated by Sir Henry Seton.

Advkntubbs op a Letter. — The Stam~ ford Mercury says — " Some time -since, a letter containing bills of exchange amounting to £5000, was posted in London, addressed to a banking firm at Boston. The word ' Lincolnshire' being omitted from the address, the letter was put into an American bag, and crossed the Atlantic to Boston in Massachusetts. No owner being found, brother, Jonathan honestly returned the letter, and on Tuesday morning, last it reached its proper destination, Messrs.: Gee and Co/s, Boston, Lincolnshire, after twice traversing the Atlantic, and having caused a journey to London, and a long and anxious correspondence. — Globe.

Lieutenant Edwardes. — The revolt of Moultan has been put down; and, according to the imperfect accounts that have been received, that valuable service is due mainly to the discreet audacity of a subalternLieut. Edwardes, an officer of Sepoys. With a small force, in the midst of provincesjwhere the British rule is so recent and so little un-> , challenged, Mr. Edwardes collected a native , army, of some six thousand men, successively crossed the Indus and the Chenab, effected a junction with a native ally, encountered the rebel Mouhraj and t;he force which was rapidly growing with the Continuance of the revolt, routed the enemy, and finished • the war, for which an English ; army tea , thousand men was mustering in. haste* • Qn the same day that the veteran- J^rti^r^VfeU lesley was celebrating the anniversary of the great victory, which crovmejti "a career began in India, the young and untitled Edwirdei

w.as adding a new exploit to the military annals : 6f ~his country. The Times justly gJoftffes this " admirable but not extraordinary service" — " not extraordinary, because thVhistory of Briti*h India is ' full of examples showing how individual resolution and abilities are developed by the noble opportunities and munificent encouragement which the service of the Company^ombine's." We have still materials of which Pictons and Craufttrds w«re made ; but why is it that we should leave the development of chivalry to the East India Company— why leave " the Old Lady" in Leadenhall-street to provide £ nursery fdr heroes ? Such materials are the best out of which armies are made ; and if"we must have armies, we cannot have too large a proportion ofEdwardes among them, a little heroism' makes a small number in men go so far ! The question is, 'whether our military system is the- best for multiplying'the breed. ' Hardly. It comprises far too' little 'recognition of personal achievements and personal merit,- Such a regulation, for instance, as the absurd rule that certain honours shall nbt~ be 'given to officers beneath a certain rank, is as far as it oan be a 1 positive check upon the spirit of chivalrous emulation. If ever knighthood was fairly won in the field, it was by Eldred Pottinger ; but he was told, as others have been both before and since, that he could .not have the spurs won by chivalry until he should have attained some point in the routine of promotion. It is true that the mortification young Pottinger has not damped the ardour of an Edwardes ; but does our system, we say, make the most of its materials ; a better system would be far from involving a more extensive and burdensome proportion. The very abuse of promotion lavishly given according to " interest," connexion, and routine, has lowered its "plue as a reward for brilliant service. But interest, connexion, and routine* do not turn out E&w,ardes and Eldred Eottingers. On the contrary, it is notorious that they operate to block out the hopes of myriads of working officers, and to deaden the hopeful and emulous spirit. Routine cannot effect what would be done by a personal recognition of qualities that are personal. Something may be said in favour of the aristpcrate element in our army ; but ,while we negle.ct the emphatic and unfailing ..recognition of personal merit, we neglect a great moral influence — we waste the best and cheapest materials for victorious armies, and have to pay for our mismanagement, in money for a host of useless officers foisted upon the country by the routine promotions, and in loss of service by stunting the energies which •our system mortifies. In these days of financial retrenchment and threatened war, it would become us to commence a reform towards a true economy of the best and cheapest materials for armies. — Spectator . Mr. Smith OBrien. — At the present moment, the following account of Mr. Smith OBrien and his family may be read with interest. He was born at Dromoland, county of Clare, on the 17th of October, 1 803, being the second son of Sir Edward OBrien, fourth baronet (who died in 1837), by the daughter and co-heiress of W. Smith, Esq., of Cahirmoyle, county, of Limerick. The latter lady was a very rich heiress. The issue of this marriage, in addition to the subject" of our notice, consisted of eight other children, including Sir Lucius, the eldest son ; Edward, born in 1806, and married to the daughter of Massy Dawson, Esq., late M.P.,' a scion of the ! house of Cremorne ; Robert, born in 1800, married to the daughter of Sir Aubrey Nere; the Rev. H. O'Brieri, married to the daughter of J. Godley, Esq. ; Grace, unmarried ; Anne, married to the Rev. A. Martineau ; Harriett, married to the Rev. TX Monsell, a relative ofTSilr. Monsell, M.P., the colleagues of Mr. Smith OBrien, in 'the representation of Limerick "county ; Katherine Lucia, 1 married to th*e Honr-Jlhd Rev. Amyard Harris, brother to tKe'E'arPof Malmesbury, one, of the preben,'<JaTies of Salisbury, and* reptor of Wilton. Th^'pr'esen't head of the house of OBrien, or'Bryeh, is the Marquis of Thomond, who adopts the. latter form of orthographyV and he 'deduces nis descent from the royal line of Thomond,' a race" of princes sprung from the ' celebrated Hibernian monarch, Brian Bbrroime, or Borii, who commenced his reign in 1002, terminated it with his life near Clontarf, in 1 01 4. Should the present marquis die without male issue, Sir Lucins ' OBrien will succeed him as Baron Luchiqiiin, but not to the higher titles, which will become extinct. In reference to the 'existence of these titles, it may be added that in 1543, Murrough OBrien, the then head of the house? 'repaired to England and resigned'his sovereignty to Edward VI., and wafe. in Recompense created Earl of Thomond iFoVlifeianVßgrbn Luchiquin. The second h'older>of tEe 1 *; baronetcy;' Sir EdwartfO'Brien,; wasthe~sori of .the Right Honorable Lucius O'Bntfh;- who 'died during the lifetime of his father,' by Cath&ine^ daughter v of.Thomas :

Keightley, Esq., of Harlingford, county of Herts, grand-daughter 1 of the first Earl of Clarendon, and first cousin of Queens Mary and Anne. In the latter points the records of the several families agreed Mr. -OBrien married' about twelve'years since the daughter of Joseph Gabbett, Esq., of-Limerick, by whom he has had issue either six or seven children. Mr. OBrien is a graduate of Trinity' College, Cambridge ; when first returned J for the family borough of Ennis, in ' 1830, Mr. O^Brien was* a Tory, and as such opposed Mi*. O'Connell in the 2 "fcase of the memorable Clare* election. He subsequently ' became a Whig,' : tnini 'fit Radical, and in 1 843 lie first joined the repeal ranks. Since 1835 he" has 1 represented 'the county of Limerick. On the last occasion he succeeded in defeating Mr. Caleb Powell, the Old Ire'-^ 1 land candidate,' by ,24 votes. Mr. OBrien fought a duel with the late Mr. Thomas' Steele, having' exchanged two shots with that 'gentleman. Sir Lucius O'Brieii, elder brother, is" lord-lieutenant of the' county of Clare. The Dowager Lady OBrien is still living, and possesses property of about £5000 per annum,' to which her second son was always considered to be the heir, but in other respects than as heir in prospect, Mr. OBrien never'viras wealthy. He has, when in Ireland, takeri up his residence at the seat of his. mother. ,

National Assembly op France. — Wihat a place of disorder is the National Assembly! A bear-garden — an unruly school during the absence of the master— the gallery of a theatre on the first representation of a pantomime — a woman's club in. which everybody talks and ntobcidy listens — & boisterous public meeting- — and ' at times even Donnybrook, fair itself— may be appropriately likened to it. The slightest thing suffices to create a row ; and then what hubbub — what tumult ! A hundred honorable members talk at the same time- I—a1 — a hundred ' others violently gesticulate — fifty or sixty besiege 'the tribune; — from *aIT parts' arise shrieks of "Order, order!" and the | wretched President bawls himself hoarse, i and almost shakes off his arm in clanging his infernal bell. Such outbreaks as these are of nearly daily occurrence. Even, however, when all is plain sailing, and the honorable representative's are, like good boys, behaving themselves welt, the conduct •of I the Assembly is such- Sis' 1 would make everyhair of Mr, Shaw Lefevre's wig stand on end with horror. ' 'For even then it is impossible for any representative to speak for two minutes from the tribune without bemg interrupted. "That is not so!" "You are mistaken!" "That's enough !*' and sometimes even "That's a falsehood!" and "That's a lie!" assail him from all parts; whilst ever and anon some other honorable representative coolly rises in his place and begins talking too ; or knots cluster here and there and engage in conversation, or at times altercation ; or members rush to and fro ; or doors violently opened and slammed. Meanwhile the President's bell clangs and clangs incessantly, and he shouts again and again, "Order! In your places, gentlemen ! In - your places, gentlemen ! Be silent, if you please !" — cries which are taken up and repeated by the stentorian lungs of a dozen huissiers. Marrast, the president, is about' the best the Assembly has yet had, inasmuch as, without talking j himself — a rare quality in a Frenchman — he contrives to keep speakers from wandering too far from the question, and in maintaining something like order, or, to speak more correctly, makes incessant and most praiseworthy attempts so to do. But his manner of keeping the representatives within bounds is very amusing — he is like a tyrannical schoolmaster with a set of unruly boys. " Will you hold your tongues there ?" he shouts, when any representatives happen to be talking tod loud/ " Sit down there, you sir!" he bawls to another. "Mr. So and So " (mentioning the deputy by name), "I'm ashamed of you, sir — I call you to order!" How would such a style of address suit the House of Commons ?—Correspondent of the Britannia. ] Among the prizes to be awarded by the Society of Arts, are two gold medals, offered by Prince , Albert, the one for the best account' of any new and improved machinery or .processes for the cultivation and manufacture of sugar in the British colonies ; aridthe other for the "best cement for uniting glass, particular attention being paid to cementing glass'pipes or glass roofing. The sum' required to be voted by Parliament to make good the deficiency in tne sums provided' for the relief of distress in Ireland and Scotland through the Commissariat Department, to the 30th of June; 1848, r &c, amounts to £262,545, The amount already^* received' and, ' paid is £|,616i129., JJI ''l ' ' ' '-" | "Some at'te'nfiioffiyas attracted in the St. ICatherine'4 Docks' on Satuf#ay/by 'thS arrival J of 'two" monster casks orSolefa Ji sherry, coritainihg'togethej nearlr 000 gallons; and :

the value of which, duty paid, would be from £1200 to £1300. No casks of such large dimensions containing wine T have ever been landed^in the docks Wore, the- usual size beingabout 110 gallons. Lieut. Munro was on Tuesday 'liberated from Newgate. Before his release an application was made to Mr. Baron Alderson,' at chambers, for a summons to be 1 directed to the governor of Newgate, shewing why, he refused to give up the prisoner to certainsheriff's officers who held an execution against him ; but the learned judge refused the application, and the debt was subset quently settled. 1 ' ' " Breeches of faith," streamed Mrs. Partington^ as she heard that term applied to Mexican violations of the armistice. " Well, I wonder what' they will have next. I have have heard tell of ''cloaks of hypocrisy,' and 'robes of purity,' -but ' I never heard of 'breeches of faithY 'bef6re"-^ I Boston Chronicle. "-' ' . ' •

Forgeries of Lord Arbuthnot.— *The Montrose Standard publishes a statement to show that the forgeries with -which Lord Arbuthnot is charged were the work of an insane man. The grand jury at Stonehaven, who returned a true bill for forgery, made a repiesentation to the Lord Advocate , of their belief that the offender was insane ; they had wished formally to inquire into the point in their capacity of jurymen, but the Clerk of Arraigns told them they could only consider the matter of fact, and on that they found a true bill. It has been the conviction of his intimates, that insanity had been making advances on Lord Arbuthnot for many years. It is traced to an accident in 1829, when he was thrown from his gig, and his skull was fractured, so that the pieces of the frontal bone had to be removed : a, surgeon then foretold the ruin of the mind..-"

Gutta Percha. — A vessel' from .Singa-^ pore having brought 10,902 blocks of Gutta Percha as part of her cargo, a weekly newspaper hints that it has been imported for the purpose of making staves for special constables. The uses to which this substance is applied are infinitely various, both useful and ornamental. Since 1780, all the revolutions in France have taken place under Popes of the name of Pius. Louis XVI. was dethroned under Pius' VT. ; ; the Directory was overturned under Pius VI.; Napoleon fell under ''Pros' VII.; Chailes X. under Pius VIII. ; and' Louis Philippe under Pius IX..

A Meeting in Westminster Abbet. — The Constitutionel has the following, in a letter dated fronii a London correspondent : — "Two French travellers, a gentleman'and his wife, were lately visiting Westminster Abbey, when some one near them exclaimed, Tiens! c'es£ Grassotf (why it's Grassot.) Grassot (the comedian) no less surprised than flattered at; being recognised in this gloomy place, politely greeted his unknown friend, who frankly advanced, and explained to the Frenchman the meaning of an epitaph, which he was not sufficiently aufait in English to read. This done, Grassot asked whom -he had to thank for the kindness. ' One of your countrymen less fortunate than yourself, Monsieur Grassot, for he may not again see his country,,' was the stranger's reply, as he departed. It was the Duke d ? Aumale, who, adds the writer, was taking his customary.promenade among the tombs, of the Abbey.-' " ' ' ' "

Autograph MSS.os; Lord t Byron. — A few interesting autographs of Lord Byron were sold at the recent sale of Messrs. Patrick and Simpson, auctioneers, of Piccadilly. The catalogue containing amongst others, the following lots : — The Curse of Minerva," 13 pages 4t0., autograph sold for £10. " Maid of Athens," the original MSS. A two, pages 4t0., entirely autograph, soldfor £4:45.' " "Waterloo," from the Trench, four pages, 4t0., entirely autograph, sold for £4 :15s. " Lines written on a Cup formed of a Skull," two pages, 4t0., sold for £7. " Elgin Marbles," two pages, folio, sold for £3. Lot 869,. Three leaves, b6ing the Opening lines of " English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," 1 &c, sold for £5. ! |

Families of Liter'abit MriN. — A Quarterly Reviewer, in discussing an objection to, the Copy Right Bill of Mr. Serjeant Tal- ' fourd, which was taken by Sir Edward Sugden, gives some curious particulars of the progeny of literary men. "We are not," says the writer, " going to speculate about the caijkes of the fact ; but a fact it is, that men distinguished for extraordinary intellectual power of any sort rarely leaye more than a' very brief line of progeny 'behind .them. "Men of genius have scarcely, ever j dc£ne so;,men of imaginative 1 genius, ""^eJ triigh't almost say.'neyer. Wifh one except tion of the nobie'jSuiTey^, we' 'cannpt,at th|s" moment point J out %' "representative* in. fKe/ male line, even So far down as the ihir ; d f^eneMipn, of t any English p_oet ; a^d; jfg believe tb;^ ,case is" the' 1 same" in, France.. . , The ' blood of beiijgs-of that order'can" D 6. J seldoqa traced' far^oW.^iPen 1 in, Wejfeipaleiwe.

With the exception of Surrey and Spencer, we are not- aware' of any great' English* •aui' thor, of at all remote date', from whose body any' person claims to be descended. -There is' no real English poet -prior to the J middle of the 'eighteenth century, "afed W-believe no great witfaor 6i 'any sott'/iek&pt ClarenV don and -Shaftesbury, -6f -blood -We have any inheritance amorigus. ''Gha'ucerV only son died childless ; p SJiakspeareVlme expired in 'his daughters i only 'daughter. None of the other dramatists of thatttge* left any progeny^ ;' neither • did Raleigh, nor Bacon, nor' Cowley, nor Butler? The granddaughter of Milton was the last of'irisbloriHL' Newton, Locke, Pope, <:Swift; Iti Arbuthnot; Hume, Gibbon, Cowper, Gray, WalpeJe, Cavendish .fanft we might - greatly < extend the list), flayer. Imarried. Neither Boiingbroke,: nor- Addison, nor Warburtori.dißQr Johnson, nor Burke, transmitted their bloo&i When a human race has produced its s,brightf consummate flower' ,in , this kind, sit see«s commonly near its end." — LondonAnecdotet*

The King of the Arctic OciEAN. — ' Oh ! the rare old whale, 'mid storm and gale» In his oceairhome will be l A giant immight, where might is right, > ', And king of the 'boundless sea.' >„-..' Captaih7£Roysi jof the Superior, makes! a report which- is confirmed : by his ship's company, that^while cruising in the Arctic Ocean, they discovered* a huge .whale, which they were confident was too large for them to 1 cut in' with. a vessel of the size of the Superior. ' All agre3 in asserting that it was the largest whale they .ever saw, and if it had been taken, must have yielded more than 30J0 barrels of 'oil. It. was not through f fear iqr, themselves, but the ' whaling ;gear ' pLlfa vessel, ;that they )V al}owed the jKing^of^-jKe Arctic Quietly to hold <m hjs ( .vi^y^ His Kingship m?y iy congratulate himself ,upon his good fortune, if he, escapes another, season!, , ' 'A wondrous ta.le.pould the rare old.whale Of the mighty d f ;ep disclose, j ,; Of the skeleton fqrnis of by-gone storm's, . And of treasures that oo one knows. ' " Oh ! the w r hale is free, of the boundless sea, t He live's'for a thousand years; He sinks 'to rest on the 'billow's breast, Nor the roughest tempest fears. The howling 'blast >as it hurries past, • - - Is music tj>ilull .him to sleep*;. ; „ And he scatters the spray in his boisterous play, As he dashes — The King of .the JDeep!' — The Friend.

A Happy Family. — Once when Admical Pakenham landed ,^t PqrJ^niOjUt.h, a friend asked' him how lie haiiT left th.exrew of his ship. "Q (said he), TJeft, them all to a~ man, the merriest refloWi in, the world,-". "How so?" asked his friend, "Why (replied the admiral), I flogged seventeen of them, and they are happy it is over; and all the rest are happy because they have escaped.

The Unfortunate Cypher. — A merchant at Marseilles, having a business correspondent on the African ,cpast, bethought him, that as some -members of his family had shown a partiality for monkeys, he might gratify them by sending for one or two specimens of these animals from Africa. Accordingly, he wrote to his correspondent to procure two or t;hree of the finest and most admjred species, and transmit them to Marseilles. ' Chance so ordered it th^at the merchant, in putting down the 6u fin English, or) between 2 and 3, made the 6 ■^ery^prominent, while the u remained scarcely yiaible. Some months afterwards a ship porter . came in all haste to the old merchant, /and announced to him that his menagerie had arrived. "Menagerie!" cried the merchant. " Yes, a menagerie, a whole cargo of monkeys had arriyed to his consignment!" The merchant could scarcely credit the an-,, nouncement, until the letter of his correspondent was .put into his, hands. In that epistle, the African negotiant, a man orUhe most uncompromising exactitude, excused^ himself very earnestly for not haying been, able, with aIJL his' exertions, to proqure more than 1 60 monkeys, in place of the 2fp3 ordered, but promised, as soon as possible, to . fulfil the entire " demand. The feelings of; the honest merchant may be guessed when, on moving down to the quay to satisfy himself on the subject by ocular inspection, he beheld his 160 monkeys, all duly caged and: littered, and grinning at 'him' with the most* laudable pertinacity. Ifc> was the moment' when a man might reasonably doubt whether it< would be_besfr to laugh or ery-.\ So much l for the value- of. cyphers. — Le-Folletl' • ;vr ' rn